The Matrix! Terminator! Blade Runner… Artificial Intelligence (AI) was once only a thing of our science fiction dreams, but AI has now reached and penetrated our everyday lives–& would you believe it–often, without our knowledge. From our phones’ facial and fingerprint recognition features to dealing with famous names, “Alexa” and “Siri” and having specially tailored social media feeds every time we hit “refresh”, AI has been easily incorporated into our daily lives–similarly to how it powers many businesses today.
And real estate is no exception.
What was once merely a brick-and-mortar industry (literally?!), real estate has been gradually welcoming the idea of AI, even making it a buzzword in the field for many forward-thinking experts. Whilst a wealth of real estate agents and brokers may find technology a bit intimidating, 4one4 has always been an agency happy to dive into the deep end and explore what could be the next big thing for our clients – So, with a bit of exploration and some deeper comprehension of the possible uses and applications of AI; we have found that it may result in a variety of fresh opportunities in the near future.
Based on studies, AI makes a substantial contribution to overall business success and revenue growth. In fact, according to a McKinsey & Company survey, 63% of businesses in all industries claim higher revenue production as a result of implementing AI. So, just like Neo in the Matrix, let’s dive deeper down the rabbit hole and see what we can uncover…
What do we mean by AI in real estate?
To get technical, and from its name itself, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the replication of human intelligence functions by machines, particularly computer systems.
But to put it in a more digestible, and dare we say Layman’s terms, AI covers a number of applications that process complicated activities once done by humans. It transforms these complicated processes into simpler ways to achieve a mutually beneficial relationship.
So how does this translate into the world of real estate?! Well, AI can take a variety of shapes. It includes analytics that guides investment and decision-making as well as automation that assists professionals throughout the sector in giving customers the best experience possible.
How can AI help you sell your property?
All this is well and good for real estate pros, but for the person on the street thinking about selling and wondering how they can get the X Factor they require to get the best result possible, we’ve collated 5 ways Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the real estate industry, from a seller’s perspective. In other words, here are 5 methods to sell your property with the help of AI.
Content Creation
Content is King! In this day and age where almost everything (if not totally everything) that we’d like to know about any topic can be found online, content is most certainly king.
And since education empowers real estate decisions, everyone is putting content and feeding their audience with information about anything and everything real estate. Creative descriptions and details for specific properties are also present on numerous platforms. May it be on websites, social media, or newsletters, content is necessary to deliver your goal of educating and creating awareness and achieving sales afterwards.
One way to do it quicker, clearer, and more efficiently is through the help of AI. With useful applications such as ChatGPT, Copy.ai, and Grammarly, you can make the most out of your content creation.
If you haven’t heard of it yet, launched in November 2022, ChatGPT is a chatbot software by the AI company, OpenAI, that combines web information and conveys them in a conversational way. From producing poetic verses to giving out friendly advice, answering questions, and writing essays, this tool is helpful in one way or another to nearly everyone. Hence, it can also help you sell your home by coming up with informative text or creative property descriptions that match your home. It is also useful when starting a blog or whenever you encounter a bumpy road when coming up with a witty caption for that social media post.
Similar to ChatGPT, Copy.ai’s main goal is to help you get rid of staring too long at blank pages. You can also use this tool for all kinds of copywriting and content writing. But the interface itself, unlike ChatGPT, it’s just a one-way conversation. It gives you options that might strike a light bulb moment but you can’t ask follow-up questions.
Lastly, the holy grail of every writer: Grammarly. If you’ve never tried using this one in creating content before, you are living under a rock. Get on board the Grammarly train now- you won’t regret it!? This checks the clarity and composition of your text. May it be grammar, syntax, or usage of words and punctuation, Grammarly is a helpful tool to deliver your message clearly to your target audience.
Customer Service
When it comes to real estate agents, they’re usually quite flexible and happy to answer any questions or concerns you might have–even on weekends. However, it’s important to keep in mind that you may not always receive an immediate response, especially when communicating online.
Let’s face it, we all have busy lives and can’t always be glued to our screens waiting for messages to come in. Real estate agents, like many professionals, have a lot on their plate as well and may be juggling many things at once. So, while they’ll do their best to attend to your needs, it’s good to keep in mind that delays are sometimes inevitable. That is, unless they have the help of an AI assistant at their disposal of course (*wink)
It’s worth taking note that in the hustle and bustle world of today & the future, people seem to be having less & less of an extended attention span these days. In fact, according to Real Estate Trainers, best practice for a successful agent is to respond to inquiries from potential clients within five minutes. Additionally, it says that more than 78% of potential leads stick to the agent who responds first.
So, whilst your agent cannot attend to everyone personally at all times (or at the same time), AI has the power to do that for you instead. Take for example, 4one4 Property Co’s resident AI Assistant, RITA by AIRE, our AI-Powered Lead Generation & Nurturing assistant. RITA’s ability to read enquiries from potential purchasers and respond with the relevant information almost instantly helps bridge the gap between the needs of purchasers, the client, and the agent simultaneously.
Marketing
People love interactive experiences. What better way to market a property than make your clients experience living in the properties you offer up close? But we understand that this can’t be the case all the time. There are conflicting schedules, long distances, work-related concerns, and the like, to consider before pushing through face-to-face interactions.
But, fret no more because AI has got you! We never (in our wildest dreams) think we’d say this but this is perhaps one of the good impacts of the global pandemic as far as real estate is concerned. It enabled industries and businesses to explore more of the technological side of things and officially welcome AI within their respective offices.
Aside from the usual photos and videos you show to your clients, viewing a property and witnessing every little detail of it can be possible without in-person inspections. Amazing tools like Matterport and Realsee are game changers for this. Your clients can enjoy 3D views of homes without ever visiting them, thanks to such AI-powered technologies.
Another tool that can help your clients imagine themselves living in the properties you offer is ApplyDesign. This lets you customise an empty house into a lively family home by putting in digital furniture and other designs that can help you sell your property to prospective buyers by showing off the space in all of its potential. Want it dressed up in a Scandinavian Look but can’t afford the time or cost of a physical styling/staging service? Easy Peasy – Just pop some digital furniture in! Don’t like the look? Easy fix: try it out with a modern chic interior instead.
Through this, you give them a clear picture of what the property could look like when they decide to live in it. The amazing thing with some of these new AI technologies also includes the beta testing of new automated item removal of what is currently already in a room. With access to these Content-Aware capabilities and machine learning being able to determine what is located behind a physical object, with the simple click of a button, some dated or daggy furniture can be removed and a contemporary look created in almost an instant.
Consider these tools as useful resources for selling many types of properties, not just the empty ones- especially for houses that are still under construction, some that have messy tenants or are over-cluttered with years worth of belongings. Only in its infancy of development currently, these tools are ones that will reshape the industry over the next few years to come and is a space to watch.
Property Search and Recommendations
When deciding to purchase a property, first on the list to tick off is research. With all the properties available in the market, it can sometimes be a daunting task to do for buyers especially if they are trying to find something very specific.
So, instead of browsing different websites, enquiring about numerous pages, or even visiting lots of neighbourhoods, why not try to help them using AI?
By focusing their search on a smaller set of essential criteria, AI in real estate can assist clients in making the right decisions. This is true because artificial intelligence-powered real estate suggestion engines operate similarly to other product suggestion engines, like Amazon. They assess your property preferences and present the best possibilities that are accessible.
Artificial intelligence (AI) expedites your property search by gathering data and comparing it to frequently used property search terms. This speeds up the buyer’s journey and helps you sell your home faster and more efficiently.
Lead Generation
Lead generation has become more efficient thanks to the dawn of artificial intelligence (AI) advancements. With AI, 4one4 Property Co. can gain valuable insights into their prospective buyers, target audiences, and predict future behaviour, leading to better-informed decisions and increased chances of success.
We spoke about RITA by AIRE earlier, but we aren’t done just yet! How is this for lead generation – by analysing various data sources such as CoreLogic, Realestate.com.au, Domain, Pricefinder, and Zango, RiTA can help agents keep track of when property owners are likely to be selling. RiTA helps your agent prioritise their time into the right places and have valuable conversations with the right people. She finds the best opportunities from past enquiries or owners and creates and recommends the right discussion topics for the agent to action. She also responds to buyer enquiries via email and has 2-way SMS conversations with prospects.
RiTA makes lead generation and lead qualification easy. With automation, she does the groundwork for you on autopilot so your agent can focus on contacting the top prospects first and achieving that selling success quicker!
Conclusion
Currently, the routine operations of many businesses are being revolutionised by Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the real estate sector is no exception. AI is assisting organisations in outsourcing and automating time-consuming jobs to lessen the strain of day-to-day operations.
Contrary to people’s fears and concerns, the rise of AI doesn’t lead to replacing people with these systems and applications. It’s about increasing productivity by automating repetitive operations and enabling wiser decisions based on data obtained from a variety of digital activities.
In real estate, AI can help in a lot of ways. Indicated above are some of the ways in which AI can assist agents, brokers, and vendors in finding the perfect buyer for their property. In no time, the list could go on and the real estate process might just be redefined in a more positive manner.
