“AI” may be a buzzword right now, but there is no denying that artificial intelligence is infiltrating many industries and changing how we do business. The once very personal process of buying a home may soon be seeing some additional changes at the hands of AI.
AI programs like ChatGPT, OpenAI and Google Bard are reshaping the way people will be buying and selling their homes. More advanced AI and machine learning technology use data to create an accurate and real-time valuation of homes which will help buyers know the actual value of a home and make the right decisions depending on their budgets. It also allows sellers to place competitive prices on properties. Beyond just the home valuation, AI can also be used to help buyers understand future expenses or possible issues with a home they are considering.
AI Enables Predictive Property Maintenance
Landlords can leverage data analytics, sensors and AI to predict potential problems in a home or property and prevent costly damages or downtime. That means AI can allow landlords to carry out targeted maintenance. Edge AI is an example of an artificial intelligence program that a property manager can use to carry out preventive maintenance.
AI can predict potential problems in a building, like water leaks or air conditioning issues, and send alerts to property managers. Imagine being able to know that in your offer you should have a contingency that the seller fixes the roof before move-in?
Edge AI can also monitor the usage of energy and enable managers to make decisions on how to reduce energy consumption and costs. This could help families factor in how much their monthly spend will increase, not just with a new mortgage, but also with a new electricity bill. This is also very helpful to buyers who own rental homes or multiple properties and are looking to gauge monthly expenses when they are looking at rental price.
Home Automation Reduces Cost
While AI may seem like a new innovation, homes have been using AI for years. Think about a smart thermostat. A smart thermostat can “learn” patterns and lower or increase temperatures in a home. AI can also make heating and cooling in a home more energy-efficient.
The technology ensures the heating system or air conditioning automatically turns on or off depending on the weather or when there’s someone in the home. If your home is empty, the AC is off.
Automated appliances like a refrigerator in a home can turn off if they stay idle for a specific period of time. Other examples include motion sensors for lighting that automatically turn on when you enter a room or a house and turn off when you leave.
Automation eliminates the worry of tenants forgetting to switch off lights in their homes and incurring huge energy bills. Property managers can also use a remote controller to switch on and off lights in common areas like hallways.
Real-time Valuation of Homes
AI can analyze large amounts of data faster than humans and combine and analyze data from different sources. It can also compare data to current market trends and economic indicators and provide a more accurate estimate of a property.
Excellent Buyer Experience
AI virtual assistants and chatbots could provide for a new buying experience. Unlike the current real estate system where you go through your agent who then goes through another agent, you could instead reach out to chatbots that can provide quick answers to buyers, renters and sellers who want to know more about a particular property. Chatbots can provide answers to common questions and routine inquiries, which eliminates routine tasks. This allows real estate staff to focus on performing other productive duties.
AI-driven virtual assistants can also use a buyer’s or renter’s preferences to offer personalized recommendations on a home that will perfectly suit their taste.
Speedup Property Listing and Paperwork
Just because AI can replace a lot of the tasks of a real estate agent, that doesn’t mean that it can do away with them in the industry entirely. Rather, individuals who work in this industry can use AI to their own personal advantage, allowing them to work smarter, not harder. Real estate agents can use AI to help buyers scan through data like the crime rate in a specific location, property price, debt history and even write up a more compelling home listing if writing isn’t their expertise.
While there may be some concerns about AI and security in almost all sectors, AI does have the ability to transform many of the tedious practices in real estate that most buyers and sellers would like to avoid.
Before we jump on the train of eliminating the real estate agent and jumping right to AI for immediate chat relief and phone calls, let’s think about how quick we are to immediately start yelling “operator” when we get on a phone call with a virtual assistant for our bank, shipping or other needs.
While the pros and cons are still up in the air, one thing is for sure: AI is definitely going to impact the way we buy homes. Now we need to figure out to what extent we use it.
Bahar Ferguson is the president of Wasatch I.T., a Utah IT company serving small and medium-sized businesses.