Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm. Thanks to recent advances in how algorithms function and their expanded capabilities, AI is being used in just about every industry under the sun right now - and if it isn’t involved somehow yet, it will be soon. This is as true for the real estate sector as any other. In fact, AI tools are being put to use in real estate and proptech applications more and more as time goes by. Here are some of the newest developments in the industry.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve likely heard of ChatGPT, the AI-powered chatbot created by OpenAI. It’s been making major waves recently, and as research into it is ongoing it keeps getting additional capabilities that make it smarter and more responsive. The newest iteration of the technology, called GPT-4, is lightyears ahead of its predecessors in its ability to understand queries submitted by users. Additionally, its ability to provide fast, accurate, and complex answers to these queries is downright astonishing. The advancements are due to the complexity of its algorithm - the programming that runs “under the hood” of GPT-4 - and its ever-expanding database from which it’s pulling its information.
GPT-4 is nothing short of revolutionary, and early adopters in the real estate technology field have taken notice. Digital brokerage DOSS, a company that has already done pioneering work in conversational home search using AI, harnessed the power of GPT-4 by integrating it directly into its DOSS 2.0 search engine. It’s the first consumer-facing platform to do so without having to rely on the ChatGPT plugin, which is less widely available. The results? A real estate-based search engine that lets users ask complex questions through speech or text, providing targeted answers that other real estate technology solutions simply can’t - not yet, anyway.
DOSS’s use of GPT4 is certainly shaking the rafters of the industry, but that level of integration isn’t going to be available to everyone. What about other real estate professionals, like real estate agents, working for themselves or as part of a smaller-scale agency? It might seem like the vast opportunities of AI-powered tools might be far out of your reach in that case. However, this isn’t necessarily true. Thanks to how ubiquitous AI-powered technology is becoming, there are more tools and applications than ever before that make use of AI capabilities. While they might not be as advanced as GPT4, they are much more accessible. Here are just a few of the ways AI is helping real estate agents.
AI is ideal for automating many of the time-consuming tasks that real estate agents typically handle. This can include tasks such as scheduling showings, sending out marketing materials, and managing paperwork. This frees up agents to focus on more important tasks, such as building relationships with clients and finding the right properties for their needs. AI scheduling tools are becoming increasingly available from a number of different providers. Some of these tools are free to use, while others might be available for paid use. It’s beneficial to explore a few options to discover which one will be the most useful for your needs.
AI can analyze vast amounts of data to provide agents with insights into the market, such as trends in pricing, inventory, and demand. This information can help agents make better decisions about where to focus their efforts and how to price properties. This technology is already widely used, and not just in places like DOSS - major real estate technology players like Zillow and Trulia already have their own AI-based data analysis tools and algorithms that they use, often to great effect. These same tools can be used to get better, more reliable information on a neighborhood or market sector you’re targeting.
AI can be used to personalize the real estate experience for clients. For example, AI can recommend properties that are a good fit for a client's needs and budget, and it can also provide information about the local area. This helps agents build stronger relationships with clients and close more deals. This is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to buy or sell a home, as a real estate agent can take a client’s preferences and load them into an AI-based tool to generate property recommendations that tick all that client’s boxes. This is something that agents do already, but now no longer have to do so by hand by combing through countless MLS listings.
The world of artificial intelligence and how it’s being applied to different industry sectors can appear a little daunting at first. Change is happening rapidly, and it might feel like you’re struggling to keep up with new features and capabilities seemingly rolled out by the day. Yet as advanced and groundbreaking as AI-powered tools are right now, they’re only going to get more astoundingly powerful as we go on. We’re near the point where you can carry on a full conversation with an AI chatbot and, while it’s obvious you’re not talking to another person, you’ll get responses that are smart, accurate, and understandable.
This means that the time to begin exploring AI and its capabilities is most certainly now. Becoming familiar with AI-assisted tools, especially those in relation to the real estate industry, is going to be necessary going forward if you want to remain competitive in the future. Smart and savvy real estate professionals that begin learning how to use AI now in their own efforts will be much better situated than those that don’t when the time comes!
