(CNN) — If you come across this recently listed four-bedroom, three-bathroom home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, you might not think twice. Posts likely include general real estate descriptions like “great for entertaining” and “plenty of places to relax.”
House’s real estate agent JJ Johannes generated a description in less than five seconds by typing a few keywords into ChatGPT, a new artificial intelligence tool that can generate detailed responses to user prompts. It is a work, he said, that would have taken him an hour or more to write on his own.
“It saved me a lot of time,” Johannes told CNN, noting that he made some changes and edits to ChatGPT’s work before publishing it. “It’s not perfect, but it’s a great starting point. My background is in technology, and it takes time to write something worthwhile. This makes it a lot easier.”
Johannes is among the real estate agents experimenting with ChatGPT since it went public in late November. Some residential and commercial agents told CNN that it has already changed the way they work, from writing listings and social media posts to drafting legal documents. It can also be used to automate repetitive tasks, such as answering frequently asked questions and performing complex calculations.
ChatGPT is empowered to generate responses to user requests with large amounts of online data. He has written original essays, short stories, song lyrics and summaries of research papers that have fooled some scientists. Some CEOs have used it to write emails or do accounting work. He also passed the exam in an Ivy League school. (However, it has raised concerns among some about its potential for cheating and its inaccuracies.)
In less than two months, ChatGPT has sparked debate about its potential to disrupt the functioning of a variety of industries, from publishing to legal. But it’s already having a tangible impact on the way many real estate agents across the country work, where much of the written work can be time-consuming, some can no longer imagine working without the tool.
“I’ve been using it for over a month, and I can’t remember the last time I was so taken with something,” said Andres Esien, a broker with Miami Real Estate Group.
“As soon as I tried it, I believed it”
Recently, a client approached Asian with a problem: She had moved into a pre-fabricated home and couldn’t open the windows. He’s been trying to contact the developer for months, but got no response. Asion ran a copy of one of his emails through ChatGPT and asked him to rewrite it, emphasizing the liability implications.
“ChatGPT wrote it as a legal issue, and suddenly the developer showed up at his house,” he said.
Asion used the tool to draft legally binding exhibits and other documents, sending them to lawyers for approval. “I refine all types of drafts with ChatGPT,” he said. “Sometimes I ask him to make it shorter or funnier, and he gives you lots of samples to choose from and edit.”
ChatGPT is free for now, but OpenAI, the company behind it, charges a $42 monthly fee. Asion said it’s “not even a question” whether you’ll pay to access it. “I would easily pay $100 or $200 a year for something like this,” he said. “I would be crazy not to.”
Frank Treless, a commercial real estate agent with State Street Realty in Miami, said he would also pay to continue using the tool, which has already affected the way he does business. “As soon as I tried it, it sold me,” he said. “I went to sign up for a package, thinking it would cost at least $100 a month, and was surprised that it was free. However, nothing is free in this world, and it bothered me a bit .
Trells said he uses ChatGPT to look at allowable uses for certain lands and areas in Miami-Dade County, and calculate what mortgage payments or return on investment might work for a client, which includes common Typically includes mortgage formulas and calculations.
“I could be in a car with a customer when they ask me what their mortgage payments are going to be,” Trailes said. “I can ask ChatGPT what the mortgage payment would be on a $14 million purchase over 25 years at an interest rate of 7.2%, with two points in principal at closing, and in two seconds it gives me that information. Also told me how he got the answer. It’s amazing”.
Miami Real Estate Agent Andres Esien.
lots of possibilities and few limitations
However, there are some limits. The device, for example, is having trouble with some basic math. Trails said it’s useful for on-the-fly approximations, not exact numbers.
Serj Reda, a commercial real estate executive and assistant professor at the Fordham Real Estate Institute, said some uses of ChatGPT are better than others. ChatGPT can help agents save time writing descriptions or responses, but automating customer responses may not be the best strategy as generating leads and closing deals often require a personalized approach. it occurs.
“It’s accessible to everyone right now because it’s free and they can test how this powerful tool can work. But of course there are important limitations,” he said.
While ChatGPT has generated a wave of interest among real estate agents, the incorporation of artificial intelligence into the real estate market is not entirely new. Publishing site Zillow, for example, used AI for 3D mapping, automated floor plan creation, and its Zestimate tool, which can scan images to see if a home has hardwood floors or stainless steel appliances. No, so your price estimate best reflects market conditions. Earlier this week, Zillow launched an AI feature that allows potential buyers to search with more natural language (something Google has long mastered).
Matt Kramer, a spokesman for Zillow, said the real estate industry has been slow to innovate, but “I think we’re going to see huge progress very, very soon.” He said Zillow doesn’t see obvious concerns for using ChatGPT with agents to help streamline the work they already do and save time.
“We are not promoting or discrediting ChatGPT, but we are interested in how it is used and what it looks like,” he said.
Although it’s too early to say whether the tool will become a mainstay in real estate, real estate agent Johannes believes AI will transform his field and others in general.
“It may not happen with ChatGPT,” he said, “but I think some form of artificial intelligence like this will become a big part of how we work and live our lives.”
