The rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) marks a major transformation that will fundamentally change the approach to business, including real estate, says Samuel Seeff, chairman of the Seeff Property Group.
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Research from Morgan Stanley indicates that AI could automate about 37 percent of routine tasks within real estate. These are largely manual processes, from basic administration to sourcing information, compiling reports, managing high volumes of correspondence, and coordinating logistics between various parties.
Enhancements in the property domain
AI will accelerate property searches, matching buyers with suitable homes, and delivering instant area insights, school profiles, amenities, virtual tours, and digital support. It will automate slow processes, improve marketing, finance, and administration, and help agents respond faster, and more effectively, says Seeff.
It will also enhance market reach through predictive analytics and virtual staging. It will provide valuable rental insights on yields, occupancy, demand, and sustainability. It can verify financial documents within seconds, automate title deed searches and compliance checks, speeding up pre-qualification, conveyancing, and other transaction processes so that property agents can focus on complex matters.
Irreplaceable human elements
While it will revolutionise real estate, Seeff says it will enhance, not replace professional expertise. It provides a sophisticated toolset to augment and enhance the capabilities of property agents who have historically, dedicated a vast portion of their time to routine procedures.
Despite these efficiency gains, Seeff says the legal and financial significance of real estate transactions means that the human element remains irreplaceable. Real estate transactions represent long-term commitments and are often the most important financial decisions that individuals make in their lifetime.
Nuanced insights
Unlike ordinary online consumer products, property is not a homogeneous or standard retail item which can simply be discarded or returned due to buyer’s remorse, he says. Each property is entirely unique, with distinct fittings, finishes, positions, and views that cause values to vary by up to 25 percent within the same street, neighbourhood, or complex.
While automated valuation models can analyse local trends and recent comparable sales to provide a basic pricing guide, Seeff says it still requires a physical, experienced local agent to view and assess specific property nuances.
Data out of the USA shows that 75 percent of buyers continue to value human expertise for final negotiations and the emotional navigation of a sale (Cotality study). The core differentiator remains a case of emotional intelligence versus artificial intelligence.
An agent provides the human touch, personal reassurance, negotiation acumen, and expert handling of complex local legal and financial implications that artificial intelligence cannot replicate. Rather than replace agents, Seeff says it will make good agents better, enhancing the success of every property transaction.
