Why AI is still a subpar real estate agent replacement

I recently got a question from Real Estate Writer Michele Lerner for Florida Realtor magazine that cut right to the chase of this technological moment: Can AI replace real estate agents?⁣

Here’s my answer: Not yet. And maybe not ever, but not because I’m anti-tech. Quite the opposite. I’m an early adopter. I love tools that make us more efficient and informed. Yes, AI is improving every day, but here’s what I also know: there’s a difference between a tool and a trusted, credible advisor (that’s you!).⁣

As of now, AI is as good as the resources it can search and scrub.⁣ But information stored in someone’s brain is simply not available for AI to data-mine (yet). I’m talking about unwritten rules of thumb. Heuristic knowledge. Undocumented, insider information and experience from a 20-plus-year pro that can best be learned from a mentor or coach, not AI curation of only existing documents. You know, the “secret sauce.”⁣

The cost of AI being at the bottom of the learning pyramid (for now)

⁣Let me geek out for a bit. There’s this framework called Bloom’s Revised Learning Taxonomy that I reference quite a bit as an MBA professor. Think of it as a pyramid of thinking skills. At the very bottom is Remembering,”quickly curating information on a topic. AI is currently great at that base level. No argument from me.⁣

⁣But savvy real estate professionals are still better at the higher functions of that pyramid. Analyzing, evaluating, and creating positive real estate experiences for homebuyers and home sellers who may only have one or two transactions a decade.⁣ This pyramid highlights levels of learning and also the difference between a tool and a strategist.⁣

⁣

This matters because moving is often considered one of the top five stressors in life. And often when we are moving, we have another stressor, such as a career change or a household loss (or growth). Thus, for someone who is not a professional real estate investor, this can be a double whammy in regard to stress.

⁣For instance, when my grandmother sold the home that she had raised my mom and her siblings in, after having lived there for 50 years with my granddad (who had passed a couple of years prior), emotionally, that was tough for her. AI could definitely spit out a list of things to do, like “Step one: Declutter. Step two: Cry later,” which feels like what I call AI purgatory. Like me, you may hate AI purgatory, which spits out trite bullet points. Emotionless AI can feel callous and insensitive at times.

But it took human empathy (a function AI has not yet mastered) to help her close that chapter with dignity. Years later, my 97-year-old grandmother still grieves my granddad, that home and our life there. It has only been the human connection that has brought her solace.

⁣As another example, look at what just happened in Cooper City, Fla. A man named Robert Levine used ChatGPT to sell his home. According to Ines Hegedus-Garcia, the buyer’s agent on that deal, the sale shows that while ChatGPT may have helped Levine get to market, it didn’t help him fully capitalize on the multioffer scenario that presented itself.⁣ Hegedus-Garcia estimated that the cost of not having experienced, savvy representation likely landed somewhere between $75,000 and $225,000. Yeesh!⁣

⁣That additional step is analyzing, evaluating and creating. That’s the top of Bloom’s learning pyramid.

While we are counting costs, here’s something we don’t talk about enough: AI isn’t free. Not financially, and not environmentally. Every query, every scrape, every model training run requires massive amounts of energy and water. This is a cost to our neighborhoods that may be too expensive to keep paying.

T.A.P. into your value above and beyond AI

I have been successfully coaching agents around the globe for more than a decade with a core strategy called T.A.P. into Your Value, which allows them to thrive despite new tech and trends (remember iBuying?). Here is how it works:

• T is for Tasks (list 100 to 500 things you actually do; just don’t give out any trade secrets!).
• A is for Agenda (how many hours would a non-real estate pro (consumer) waste doing each one?).
• P is for Price (what would a consumer pay out of pocket without your partnerships and inside information?).

For example, verifying a legal address might take you five minutes with your attorney on speed dial, but, even with AI, a consumer could spend hours on sluggish government websites or hundreds of dollars on hourly legal fees just to get started. That is one task on a list of hundreds. When clients see the T.A.P., it becomes painfully obvious that this is a valuable full-time job beyond simply opening a door or generating a task list from AI.

Dr. Lee Davenport is an MBA graduate school professor, executive business coach, global conference speaker, and author (including Be a Fair Housing D.E.C.O.D.E.R., How to Profit with Your Personality, and over 270 news bylines or features).

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.

To contact the editor responsible for this piece: [email protected]