When it comes to selling a house, most folks usually turn to a real estate agent. But Stuart Thompson decided to try something different—he reached out to a chatbot.
Thompson, who works as a tech reporter for the New York Times, turned to artificial intelligence to assist him with selling his home in upstate New York. Remarkably, within just five days of listing the property, he had an accepted offer, making a profit of $90,000 in the process.
“It gave me a mindset and an attitude to tackle these delicate, high-stakes interactions that are often left to natural talents or seasoned pros,” Thompson shared.
Initially, when Thompson and his wife wanted to sell their three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Hudson Valley, they consulted several real estate agents. However, the agent wasn’t optimistic about pricing, and Thompson’s wife was wary of paying a 3% commission to both their agent and the buyer’s agent. I mean, who wants to take a hit on their investment, right?
So, instead, Thompson utilized Google’s chatbot, Gemini, to generate a list of potential homes. He mentioned that, based on some guesswork, they estimated they could list their house for around $550,000.
For $7.50 a month, he opened an account with Gemini through his job and spent $200 to list his home on Homecoin.
Gemini acted as Thompson’s advisor during the process, suggesting local photographers, offering home staging tips, and clarifying real estate terminology. However, there was a significant hiccup regarding the commissions; the chatbot mistakenly suggested a 0% commission for the buyer’s agent, which is, of course, not permitted.
On the flip side, Gemini proved useful when Thompson faced a surge in bookings. It helped him manage his time and navigate through numerous complex emails.
At a certain point, the chatbot shifted from being overly agreeable to more straightforward.
Thompson wondered out loud: “Should I say something like, ‘I’m not playing the game’ or ‘I’m not trying to take advantage of your offer’?” To which Gemini advised against those phrases, explaining that they could create a defensive atmosphere and make him appear inexperienced.
The AI helped alleviate some of Thompson’s worries about appearing overly eager in the selling process.
“By setting a lower price, we felt more secure, thinking we could receive multiple offers,” he reflected.
While he expected the AI to enhance his negotiation skills, he recognized that human empathy was something AI simply couldn’t replicate.
Thompson ended up receiving three offers, all above his asking price. When he entered these offers into the chatbot, it advised that the “most reliable offer” should be the preferred choice, even if it wasn’t the highest. He and his wife concurred.
In pursuit of a better deal, Thompson asked Gemini to negotiate for the buyer to cover a 2% commission for his agent, and the buyer agreed.
Eventually, they accepted an offer exceeding $600,000, bringing their net profit to over $90,000, considering both the premium on the asking price and the $36,000 in fees they avoided.
To handle the closing, Thompson opted to hire a human lawyer.
A real estate agent later suggested that he might have listed his property too low and accepted the first offer too quickly, indicating he could have lost out on as much as $225,000. However, Thompson calculated that selling the house for $605,000 without commissions would give him the same cash amount as selling it for $643,000 with all regular commissions included.
Thompson isn’t alone; other people have also found success using AI in real estate. For instance, in Miami, a father of three sold his home in under a week with the help of ChatGPT.
