From Australian Property Investment News by David T. Zhao
Leo, the kid next door, is an AI enthusiast with a fluffy head of hair and a pair of large glasses perched on his nose.
He is studying actuarial science and programming at the University of Melbourne, and whenever we run into each other, all he talks about is code.
The other day, I bumped into him outside wearing a big bathrobe, and he suddenly asked me what I thought of artificial intelligence.
After sharing some applications of Tensorflow with him, Leo told me he had some open-source AI projects on Github that I might be interested in, some of which are related to real estate.
Leo used to talk about algorithms that convert Fourier equations into wheel shapes, but suddenly he switched to AI projects related to Australian real estate, which was eye-opening.
He said that AI algorithms can now process millions of documents in seconds, and can look at property values, debt levels, home renovations, and personal information about the homeowner.
When I asked him about the future of real estate agents, he said he was not optimistic. In the past, traditional Australian brokers would “knock” on many doors, but now artificial intelligence can find all the houses that will be for sale in the next few months.
While we don’t need to take the words of a young kid who has never bought a house too seriously, what Leo said is not false. In fact, a large number of real estate AI companies are already on the way, and their pace is breathtaking.
As many real estate professionals still cling to traditional thinking, artificial intelligence is no longer a science fiction concept. It is playing an increasingly important role in the real estate industry…
Recently, an Israeli company has allowed machine intelligence to make real estate investment decisions.
The platform seeks value opportunities by analyzing massive amounts of real estate data, and through its AI system, the company has spent millions of dollars to acquire two high-quality assets in the United States.
The company, which has tasted success, has now transformed into the IT industry, rather than classifying itself as a real estate investment company.
Their virtual broker online customer system has also been launched, allowing online browsing of residential and small commercial properties.
The virtual broker can use algorithms to help buyers find potential targets, take on a large number of basic tasks, and real brokers can spend more time and energy on face-to-face value-added services.
If an AI application can conquer the minds of some very smart decision makers on earth, it could pose a serious threat to ordinary real estate brokers.
They even conducted experiments publicly, asking real estate brokers to compete with AI robots and find out who can make the best recommendations.
In the end, almost all the real estate reporters who acted as buyers chose the properties recommended by the AI robot.
Of course, the final step still requires real estate brokers to draft contracts.
Like a frog in slowly boiling water, and when you ignore change, your job security may already be slipping away.
Physical real estate seems to be the only tangible asset left in an increasingly virtual world, but it is being taken over by artificial intelligence.
For example, companies like Compass, Zillow, and LoanSnap in the United States are now using AI to help find the perfect mortgage and home buyers.
The construction industry is the same. 3D printed houses, prefabricated robots building houses are all in full swing, with large-scale promotion of AI-built houses, such as Toyota in Japan.
Like the Australian REA, Zillow in the United States recently upgraded its popular home price system, “Zestimate,” which now uses neural networks or machine learning similar to the way the brain works.
So far, Zestimate has provided initial cash quotes for about one million homes in 23 US markets, and the complete replacement of manual quotes is on the way.
With accurate and up-to-date data from AI, the accuracy of Zestimate has greatly improved, and the chances of buyers getting discounts on homes priced by machines have increased by 30%.
Artificial intelligence allows entry into the heavy work related to real estate transactions: complex data, compliance, paperwork, finding houses, negotiations, and quotes.
More importantly, artificial intelligence makes transactions faster, simpler, and of course, cheaper.
There is also one fatal point: artificial intelligence can overcome the most human part of any real estate transaction: pressure, which is the most painful thing for traditional intermediaries.
Artificial intelligence will enable professional real estate portals to recommend target homes that match consumer preferences, personal characteristics, and values.
Provide buyers with the right information that matches their needs, instead of displaying more information for customers to choose and judge.
With the advancement of machine learning, conversational robots will become more intelligent. In the future, they will be able to proficiently answer complex search questions, including implementing a more convenient and natural question and answer method through voice technology.
In the future, real estate agents will no longer need to accompany clients to visit homes, and clients can inspect properties in their leisure time.
As AI robots can take clients to visit properties at any time and answer questions that clients may have, non-agent showings will become more popular and convenient.
Consumers may prefer to do business with robots rather than humans. According to Salesforce data, 69% of consumers prefer to communicate with brands quickly through chatbots.
Perhaps, just like McDonald’s automatic ordering system, people are less willing to face “cold” people directly and would rather spend time on a large screen by themselves, regardless of their wealth.
A startup in the United States has developed a robot that connects a tablet to a wheeled rod and plays a real estate agent’s video in real-time. The agent will direct the robot for tours and operations.
This simulated robot allows real estate agents to conduct property displays for more clients in a day.
This AI system will enable buyers to view properties on their own and provide feedback. This technology will help cover many areas, meet more client needs in an equally busy schedule, and avoid client waiting.
Similarly, AI can better predict the future value of real estate in the target market by connecting information from different sources, including regional crime, schools, transportation, and market activities.
For example, accurately predicting future rents and determining future market trends.
By using data models to help investors analyze the real estate market and predict the appreciation space of a certain property, they can guide investors to make critical decisions, such as when to increase rent, renovate, or sell their properties.
Many real estate companies in Australia have started using AI, including Domain and REA’s clearance rate data statistics every Saturday.
They can do statistics on the entire Australian housing transaction data just half an hour after the transaction ends, and the data you see on Saturday at 6 pm is pushed to you by robots.
Currently, AI has only touched the surface of the Australian real estate industry, but in 10-15 years, it will significantly affect how people buy and sell properties.
Similarly, in the Australian construction industry and design units, a comprehensive industry revolution involving AI is in the works.
This is a huge change that you may not be able to stop. AI is taking over and dominating the real estate industry.
Believe it or not, time will tell…
