The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) has been sending shockwaves across nearly every industry, and real estate is no exception. While our industry is notorious for its lethargic adoption of new technologies, it is inevitable that AI will reshape many of the traditional and archaic processes that exist today. Those unwilling to embrace and adopt these cutting-edge tools will likely be left behind. 

Unfortunately, the hype and frenzy surrounding the AI explosion has spurred a deluge of gimmicks from companies looking to get eyeballs on their brand, with little to no value being created. At the same time, there are numerous examples of ground-breaking implementations of this transformative technology that are already being used today. This piece will explore some of the key domains where AI is having the greatest impact for real estate agents, brokers and the innovative companies leading the charge.

Scaling lead generation with AI

In the fast-paced and competitive market we’re experiencing today, effective lead generation can be the make or break of a brokerage. Maintaining a consistent pipeline of potential buyers and sellers ensures the business’s sustainability and growth, but it requires an immense amount of work and marketing expertise, which is often outside an agent’s core competencies. One example of a company looking to crack the lead gen code is Addressable. 

Their all-in-one platform allows agents to send out mailers to leads at scale, with personalized copy developed by AI and hand-written notes produced by robots. The result is a highly-efficient, optimized outreach campaign that never loses the valuable “human” touch. Since 2020, Addressable has facilitated nearly $2 Billion in home sales across 44 states. As this space continues to evolve, real estate agents utilizing technologies like Addressable’s will be able to gain a significant strategic advantage in capturing potential leads at a scale and converting them into clients.

Automating client engagement

Lead engagement is another crucial element of any real estate business. It’s imperative that agents and brokers nurture their leads in order to build trust, stay top of mind, and demonstrate their expertise which ultimately increases the likelihood of conversion from prospect to client. However, “it takes between 6 to 8 touch points to get in contact with a potential client,” says David Tal, CEO of AI proptech startup, Verse. “The vast majority of real estate agents do not make it past the first touchpoint before they drop off, leaving an immense amount of opportunity on the table.” 

Acting as a virtual assistant, Verse’s AI system takes charge of interacting with, qualifying, and following up on consumer inquiries at any time of the day via SMS. In a fast-paced industry like real estate, time is of the essence and the vast majority of unrepresented buyers and sellers will work with the first agent that reaches out. Therefore, an agent’s ability to respond promptly can often mean the difference between winning and losing a potential client. On top of closing the gap on “speed-to-lead”, Verse’s AI learns and evolves with every interaction, refining its approach, and delivering increasingly personalized responses, thus fostering a deeper connection with clients. So far, Verse has reported conversion multiples of nearly 3x that of normal human nurturing efforts, a clear indicator that AI’s role in lead engagement may be here to stay. 

Streamlining property research and diligence with AI

Throughout the home buying journey, the sheer volume of property information that needs to be accessed and analyzed is immense. However, real estate data remains extremely fragmented, expensive, and time-consuming to collect. Enter RealReports, like a supercharged Carfax for homes which harnesses the power of AI to simplify and expedite the entire research and diligence process from days into seconds. By aggregating a wide array of data from dozens of best-in-class providers, RealReports provide comprehensive property reports with deep insights for every home in the U.S., including permits, zoning, climate risk, rental potential, crime, demographics, financial history, and much more. Central to each report is an AI copilot named Aiden, which analyzes tens of thousands of data points from within each RealReport to answer any property question in real-time.

Whether at a showing, open house, or putting together an offer, agents or their clients can ask any question they have about a property and Aiden will deliver an immediate and sophisticated answer in seconds. Aiden can tell you whether a property has a better short or long-term rental potential, if you can build an ADU in the backyard, what permits are open, the various climate risks and environmental hazards, whether the home is in a good area to raise your kids–anything you can imagine. It can even write you an original poem about the property to flex its creative prowess and data-crunching might. This breakthrough considerably shortens the time spent on research, reduces liability exposure, increases transparency, and allows agents to provide immense value for their clients throughout the most important purchase of their lives. 

Predictive agent recruiting

Recruiting and retaining top-tier talent is critical for a brokerage to survive. By expanding their workforce, a brokerage increases their capacity to manage more clients and listings, which directly translates to business growth. Additionally, recruiting high-performing agents brings in diverse skill sets and market knowledge, enhancing the brokerage’s reputation and competitive advantage in the market. Realcruit AI offers a compelling evolution for recruitment by providing a centralized solution that consolidates the disparate workflow silos, while harnessing advanced AI to optimize every step of the process. 

The platform sifts through mountains of MLS data such as the velocity between listings and sales to identify potential hires at the optimal time, taking much of the guesswork out of recruiting. Realcruit AI’s enables recruiters to, “hunt with a rifle, not a shotgun,” says CTO Ryan Rexroad, “which has tripled our team’s hiring success rate.” Additionally, the platform helps foster agent retention and prevent churn by equipping managers with actionable insights related to agents who may be primed for poaching by other brokers or firms. By tapping into AI’s ability to discern patterns and trends that may go unnoticed in manual analysis, Realcruit AI allows managers to make data-driven decisions that can significantly impact their recruitment strategies and ultimately, their business success.

Navigating the future of real estate with AI

The rise of AI in the real estate industry represents an exciting new frontier for agents and brokers. By capitalizing on the technology’s vast potential, they can streamline, augment, and optimize some of the most critical processes across the home-buying journey and lifecycle. Innovative solutions like Addressable, Verse, RealReports, and Realcruit AI stand as testaments to the revolutionary power of AI in the industry. 

As the landscape of real estate continues to evolve, embracing AI is no longer just an option but a necessity to stay competitive and achieve long-term success. The future of real estate will be shaped by the dynamic capabilities of artificial intelligence, and those who seize the opportunity to integrate AI into their operations today will undoubtedly lead the field in the years to come.

Zach Gorman is co-founder of RealReports.