Can AI do this?

As AI spreads into our daily lives, it’s clear that it is here to stay, but not clear how it may replace us. There’s a lot of talk about what careers are going to be AI proof - they will all undoubtedly be enhanced by artificial intelligence and we are seeing this in real estate right now. But will we, as Realtors, be replaced? 

I think about what I do on a daily basis as a full-time producing real estate agent, and I can’t help but wonder, how could AI do it? There is an enormous human emotional element to the real estate transaction, as anyone who has bought and/or sold in California knows. A successful agent understands the psychological element and stress and is empathetic to their clients. It’s about follow up, and understanding guiding people through what is usually a life change at the same time and is loaded with anxiety. Will my house sell? Am I paying too much? Does the house need too much work? Selling a home is not easy today with global economic factors as well as local, and affordability is at the very top of people’s minds.

Right now, AI helps with comping out properties but is pretty imperfect and doesn’t replace the knowledge of an area expert. Even the MLS leaves out properties when you are performing an analysis and only a Realtor who knows every inch of the comparables would even be able to notice. Then there’s the physical element of preparing a house for sale, from the staging, to the handyman items, the little details that make a house pop and stand out from the rest. Will AI pick up dog bombs from the back yard right before a showing? While this may be an extreme excrement example,  I will not hesitate to do what it takes to present the home in the best light whether it’s hauling bags of mulch, or changing out a dirty filter.

I am old enough to remember that it was widely predicted that the Internet would replace real estate agents, putting the data in the hands of the consumer but access to the homes did not make us obsolete. It has become a tool to help us.  Indeed, just in 2024, experts wondered if buyers would choose to work with an agent when nationally commissions became more transparent and negotiable with the offer. Instead, buyers recognized the worth of having an expert guide them through the complicated process of purchasing a home more than ever.

At the end of the day,  trust, strategy, and relationships still win. Happy to have my AI be my assistant, but I’m still the boss and my clients will continue to be successful in their transactions. "Number 5 is alive!"  (AI did not write this, I did)