5 Ways Artificial Intelligence Is Reshaping the Real Estate Market

It’s no exaggeration to say that artificial intelligence (AI) has become the most talked-about new technology over the past year or more. When it comes to real estate, AI’s promise lies in its ability to learn, draw conclusions, and make near term predictions by processing data and user behavior using sophisticated algorithms.

What impact is machine learning having on the real estate industry now and in the coming years? And, might it make real estate agents more effective and efficient?

1. Improved home searches

While AI is not likely to replace real estate agents any time soon, it can help your client find the ideal home faster by analyzing search patterns and building a more exact picture of the type of property they are searching for. Instead of relying simply on just square footage, number of rooms, and price, AI would recommend homes that align with the buyer’s values, personality, and specific preferences.

2. More personalized marketing

AI can use this same aggregated customer data to personalize and deliver timely marketing to clients. AI can also assist in finding leads by discriminating between high-value client touchpoints and low-value client interactions using Natural Language Processing (NLP) to determine how serious a potential buyer may be.

3. Improved customer service

AI, implemented in the form of customer service chatbots, can understand and respond to customer requests over the phone, on the web, and in social media applications giving agents around the clock customer support. Many of these chatbots are now so sophisticated and conversational that it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between the machine and a real customer representative.

4. Customer relationship management (CRM)

AI-based CRM systems can help keep track of customer marketing and identify areas where you need to take specific actions to engage prospects, serve current clients, stay in touch with post-close clients, and reach other referral sources.

5. Investment management

With such a vast amount of client and property data available, real estate investors with access via Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, etc., can use AI to identify and manage single transactions and build a diversified portfolio across multiple markets. AI could then rebalance those investments based on changes in the market over time.

We’ve barely scratched the surface of AI potential. As well as helping refine the home buying process overall, AI could be used to predict fluctuations in the market and on individual appraisal values. AI combined with virtual reality software could be used to conduct lifelike in-home walkthroughs from anywhere. Machine learning could further improve the client experience with seamless compliance checks and auto-fillable forms for faster closings. Such improvements would eliminate user errors and cut down on the need for manual data entry.