Your buyer is using AI. Your seller is using AI. The agent is also using AI.

AI is becoming part of everyday life. It’s easier to use, and people are finding more ways to put it to work—from organizing their day and preparing emails to reviewing documents and working through complicated questions.

I’ve recently started using an AI assistant to help organize my day, and it’s been very helpful. ChatGPT, by OpenAI, has also been a tremendous time saver for our real estate business and other work I do.

One recent example involved a complex financial spreadsheet with roughly 72 rows and more than 20 columns. AI helped identify an error and correct formulas that otherwise would have taken considerable time to work through.

I see the value. I use it myself.

But when we bring AI into a real estate transaction, we need to be thoughtful about how we use its answers.

When everyone brings their own AI to the transaction

I’ve read accounts of buyers and sellers bringing AI-generated advice into negotiations, including questions about inspection issues and whether a deal makes sense.

One published account, “The Battle of the Bots,” describes a seller using ChatGPT and a buyer using Gemini to guide negotiations. It illustrates how competing AI advice can complicate a transaction that both sides want to complete.

That raises a question: What happens when everyone comes to the table with an AI answer that supports pulling in a different direction?

The way a question is asked matters. So does the information provided. If someone starts by asking for reasons to cancel, that’s a different exercise from asking for a balanced review of the concerns, available options, and missing information.

My concern is that buyers and sellers may use AI to reinforce an outcome they already want without checking whether the answer reflects the actual property or transaction.

There is a useful role for AI—with validation

I believe agents can continue using AI within reason, with steps to validate the results.

For example, AI can help organize comparable sales, summarize property information, or identify questions that deserve a closer look when evaluating a home’s market value.

But I wouldn’t take a number generated by AI and present it as the answer without checking the underlying information.

Which properties were used as comparisons? Are the sales recent? Are the homes comparable in location, condition, size, and features? Is something important missing?

Those are questions an agent needs to work through.

AI can help with the analysis. The responsibility for checking that analysis remains with the person using it.

AI hasn’t walked through that home

A home is more than the information available in a listing or a spreadsheet.

AI hasn’t personally walked through the property. It hasn’t experienced the layout, looked closely at the condition, or evaluated the work through the eyes of a local tradesperson.

Even when it receives photographs or an inspection report, there may be information it doesn’t have.

That becomes especially important when the conversation turns to repairs.

AI may provide a general estimate for replacing a water heater, repairing an electrical issue, or addressing a plumbing concern. But that estimate isn’t the same as a quote from a qualified professional who has reviewed the specific scope of work.

Get repair numbers from the people doing the work

If an inspection identifies an issue, I want the appropriate professional involved.

A plumber, electrician, or general contractor can review the report, inspect the concern when needed, and explain what the work involves. They can account for the conditions at the property, local requirements, materials, labor, and the scope of the repair.

That’s the information I want my clients to have when we discuss a repair request or negotiate a credit.

An AI estimate can give us a starting question. A qualified professional’s assessment gives us something more concrete to work with.

The same principle applies to contract questions. If a buyer or seller is considering canceling a transaction, that decision needs to be discussed with their agent and attorney, with attention to the actual contract and circumstances.

Use AI thoughtfully, and keep your trusted professionals involved

I’m enthusiastic about the time AI can save. I’ve experienced that benefit firsthand.

But I would caution buyers and sellers against treating an AI response as the final word on a home’s value, a repair cost, or whether to proceed with a transaction.

Ask questions. Use the tools. Then validate the answers with actual data and the people qualified to evaluate the situation.

Continue to lean on your trusted real estate agent, plumber, electrician, general contractor, attorney, and title professional. Ask them to explain their recommendations and the information behind them.

Allow them to do their work and bring their experience to the table.

For me, that’s the practical way forward: use AI where it helps, check what it produces, and keep professional judgment at the center of the transaction.

Talk with Bobby ↗