How AI is changing Estate Agencies
There is no doubt that artificial intelligence (AI) is having a huge impact on the world we live in.
We are currently deep in the information era and the development that AI has gone through in recent years has affected all our lives, mostly for the better. As a result of this progression in intelligence and information, we wanted to look at how this modern phenomenon is impacting and changing the real estate profession, and what we can expect in the future.
Live Chat
Chatbots or Live Chat has become an invaluable addition to a number of major industries, including real estate. It’s a technology that proactively communicates with customers to find out some initial information on behalf of the broker. It provides the client with a feeling of talking to a human, rather than having to fill out a form, without the agent needing to be on the other end asking all these repetitive mundane questions. These chatbots can ask what type of property someone is looking for, ask follow-up questions and search databases for suggestions of properties. If the customer shows genuine interest in purchasing properties then they can be passed onto an agent for the finals steps of this so that their time isn’t wasted and the highest quality leads can be converted.
Accurate Image Recognition
Another development within the AI space is in image recognition. Due to the large amount of photographic data in real estate, the applications for AI could be vast. When a search engine is coupled with image recognition software, computers can interpret images to a high degree of accuracy. This can enable AI to trawl databases of photos of properties, helping the client and agent find the property they are looking for easily. These advances can also learn from any mistakes made, to continuously provide a better service. The time-savings from library trawling, or using AI to match potential client’s preferences with houses on record, could provide large efficiencies.
Fast and Precise results
In much the same way as the processing for the image recognition, AI is increasing the efficiency of estate agency more generally. The number of criteria that all parties involved in the house viewing process can use now has increased dramatically, along with the accuracy of the results. This means that agents can be very specific when searching for properties and find people houses, which are more suited to them, far more easily. Furthermore, intelligent searching factors in searches even before clients ask for them. As a result, the intervention of professional real estate brokers has become high specialized and pushed back to the last stages of closing real estate deals. This AI will store information on client and record their movement across the service, improving the customer service in the future and further specialising their searches to be better catered to each individual.
The end is near?
AI is coming on in leaps and bounds and will continue to improve in the future. Currently, it can perform simple and monotonous tasks very well but struggles at more complex tasks. However, AI is learning every day and is starting to break down complex tasks into many simple ones, threatening to replace a number of jobs. Estate agencies are at risk from increased AI as well as a whole host of new online businesses entering the market and increasing competition. As a result, businesses need to be versatile and open to innovation.
We’re always interested in hearing about your experiences of working in estate agency. If you’d like to know more about how NicheCom can support your business, please contact us or call 0118 977 0690.