As a real estate agent, keeping up with all the different types of technology that can boost your business can feel like a full-time job. But some tech tools are more important to pay attention to than others.
For example, when Facebook came about, there was already My Space. Still, while My Space was used more for posting pictures, the interactive features on Facebook quickly made it a social media channel and a business outreach opportunity.
And we’re in the middle of new, exciting, and possibly risky tech advances, and understanding the benefits and risks associated with these tools is crucial in growing your business.
Maybe you’ve heard of ChatGPT, Bing by Yahoo, or Bard by Google. Perhaps you use Siri on Apple devices or have an at-home Alexa. These are all forms of AI devices that are becoming more commonplace and, with each new advancement, are becoming ever more powerful.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already used to automate tasks, improve efficiency, and make better decisions in many industries, including real estate.
Artificial Intelligence has become an increasingly popular topic in various industries, and real estate is no exception.
With the rise of technologies like chatbots, predictive analytics, and machine learning, AI has the potential to revolutionize how real estate professionals do business. But with innovations come new risks.
So, what are the benefits and risks of using AI in real estate?
What Is Artificial Intelligence?
Artificial Intelligence is a simulation of human intelligence processes by machines that can perform tasks that typically require human intelligence and reasoning.
Think about movies like The Terminator, where Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character is a robot with advanced human intelligence.
With the ability to analyze vast amounts of data, machine learning, natural language processing, and other AI-powered tools are transforming how real estate professionals conduct routine tasks, make informed decisions, and reap significant cost savings while reducing human error.
Utilizing the incredible benefits of AI tools can boost your productivity, increase your client engagement, and automate many tasks that take up large portions of your time, but not without some risks.
Let’s take a look at the benefits and risks associated with these tools and get a better understanding of how will AI affect real estate moving forward.
The Benefits Of AI In Real Estate
Real estate is one of the largest and most dynamic industries worldwide. Real estate transactions commonly require time, energy, and professional expertise.
However, artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized the real estate sector by introducing advanced technologies to help real estate agents and clients make informed decisions.
1. Predictive Analytics
AI can analyze vast amounts of data to predict future trends in the real estate market.
Accurately and immediately predicting the market will help agents make informed decisions and provide their clients with better data-driven insights. This means that you’ll better serve your clients and, in return, showcase your skills and expertise, which will further build a reputation that you are the go-to local expert.
2. Better Customer Experience
Another area that AI can help you is to improve the client experience by providing personalized recommendations based on their behavior, preferences, and search history.
This will help you provide better-personalized service to your clients.
For example, AI-powered chatbots can answer questions, provide recommendations, and schedule appointments 24/7. This can make it easier for customers to get the information and assistance they need when they need it.
3. Improved Decision Making
Using AI tools in your business can provide real-time insights and analysis to help you make better decisions. This will help you prioritize your time, resources, and investments more effectively to assist your clients' needs better.
Another of the primary benefits of using AI tools in real estate is its ability to analyze data to predict trends. Using machine learning tools and neural networks, AI can identify patterns and predict market trends with high accuracy, ultimately leading to cost savings and increased profits.
Numerous AI-powered applications provide real-time market data and analysis. For example, Realtor.com and StreetEasy use AI algorithms to analyze market data and inform users about rental prices, purchase prices, and property values.
These applications allow real estate professionals to stay up-to-date with the latest market trends and make informed decisions about buying and selling properties.
4. Automating Repetitive Tasks
Another area that you can benefit from using AI tools is that they can assist you with tasks such as data entry, lead generation, and property valuation, freeing up time for you to focus on more critical tasks.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to significantly impact the real estate industry by streamlining processes and reducing costs.
One of the most notable benefits of AI is its ability to automate routine tasks, eliminating human error and achieving significant cost savings. But, most importantly, automating these tasks will let you dedicate your time and energy to those things you enjoy, like interacting with your clients.
In a relationship business like real estate, customer service is invaluable and AI-powered chatbots can handle routine queries, freeing you up to focus on more complex issues.
Chatbots can answer frequently asked questions and provide contact details, all without the need for human intervention.
Risks Of AI In Real Estate
With Artificial Intelligence (AI) becoming a game-changer in the real estate industry, its powerful machine learning algorithms and natural language processing capabilities will create many opportunities but also some associated risks.
1. Risk Of Bias
AI systems and algorithms are trained on data; if this data is biased or skewed, it can lead to biased results. This risk must be carefully considered when developing and using AI-powered tools and services.
And if AI algorithms have inherent biases, these can lead to discriminatory outcomes. Therefore, ensuring that the data used to train AI models is free from any prejudices is essential.
2. Privacy Concerns
One of the primary concerns about emerging AI in society is the risk and impact of personal privacy.
These AI systems can collect vast amounts of data, which can raise privacy concerns. As an agent, you must ensure that the data collected is secure and not misused, and AI systems collect and analyze large amounts of data about people, which could lead to this data being used to track people's movements, habits, and preferences.
3. Decreased Transparency
Using AI in real estate can decrease transparency, making it difficult for consumers to understand how decisions are made. Therefore, ensuring that AI systems are transparent and explainable is vital.
4. Lack Of Reliability
AI systems may only sometimes be reliable, and there is always a risk of errors in the system. For example, there could be infected code that impacts results, or improper data imputed that affects the outcome of the results. Therefore, as an agent using these tools, you must ensure that you verify the accuracy of the AI system's recommendations.
For example, suppose a predictive model fails to account for relevant variables such as market trends, economic forecasts, and social trends. In that case, it can make unreliable predictions that do not accurately anticipate future property values.
When this happens, you might need to make better decisions, such as investing in a property that will not generate expected returns or failing to invest in a property that will rise in value.
