Before we dive into the implications for Realtors, let’s break down what an AI agent actually is, because this is crucial to understanding the coming change in our industry.

Siri “on steroids” 

An AI agent is essentially a digital assistant that can take real actions on your behalf—not just answer questions or provide information. Imagine, Siri, but on actual steroids. Think of it as having a highly capable personal assistant who can:

1. Understand your specific requests and preferences
2. Take concrete actions in the real world (make calls, send emails, book appointments, negotiate…)
3. Make basic decisions within the boundaries you set
4. Communicate with other AI agents

Here’s a simple example of how it works in practice:

When I needed that haircut, instead of spending time searching, calling, and negotiating, I simply told my AI agent what I wanted. I opened the app and said, “I need a haircut appointment nearby on Friday at 6 pm”.

The agent knew my schedule from my calendar, understood my preferences, and within 10 minutes made actual phone calls with a natural-sounding voice to a whole bunch of hair salons in my area. It handled the entire booking process—calling multiple salons, checking availability and scheduling the appointment.  It even confirmed the pricing.
Within a few minutes, the appointment appeared in my calendar.

AI agents could handle scheduling at lightning speeds

Now, this example just scratches the surface.  It uses AI and a fancy combination of Google searches to actually make AI voice calls.  I’m sure some of the salons were spooked to hear an AI calling them on my behalf and asking for an appointment, however, most of them interacted with the AI and were more than willing to book the appointment.

But imagine taking things to the next level. Many Realtors struggle with keeping up with phone calls, texts and emails. In an era where clients seek instant gratification, a missed call often equals a missed opportunity. 

The real power comes when businesses also have their own AI agents. Then the interaction becomes lightning-fast. From beginning to end, it too my AI agent seconds to book my haircut and put it in my calendar. 

Now, imagine this same efficiency applied to real estate. Instead of the traditional back-and-forth that can take days or weeks, we’re looking at a future of instant, intelligent interactions between buyers’ AI agents and real estate agents’ AI agents.

Five key implications for real estate 

1. The evolution of property search and matching

Forget about buyers endlessly scrolling through listings. Soon, a buyer’s AI agent will communicate with multiple Realtors’ AI agents simultaneously, instantly matching properties based on detailed criteria. 

But here’s the key—it won’t just match based on bedrooms and bathrooms. 

AI agents will understand nuanced preferences like “character homes with good natural light” or “quiet street with a strong community feel.” This means agents need to be incredibly thorough in their property documentation and descriptions, making sure their listings communicate both tangible and intangible features in a way AI agents can understand.

2. Showings and open houses transform

The traditional open house schedule is about to get a major upgrade. AI agents will coordinate showings by matching multiple buyers’ schedules with agent availability.

Smart agents will need systems that can interface with these AI schedulers to make the showing process nearly frictionless. This will mean the in-person experience becomes even more critical—because when buyers do show up, they’re more likely to be serious and well-matched to the property.

3. Local expertise becomes programmable knowledge

Your deep understanding of neighbourhoods, school districts, and local market trends needs to be digitized and structured in a way that AI agents can access and communicate. This isn’t just about writing blog posts—it’s about creating detailed, structured data about neighbourhood characteristics, local amenities, and market insights that can be easily parsed by AI systems. The goal is to make your local expertise programmatically accessible while maintaining its human value.

4. Relationship building gets supercharged

When AI handles mundane tasks like scheduling, document collection and initial property matching, agents can focus on what truly matters: building relationships and providing strategic advice. The successful real estate agent of tomorrow will be more advisor than scheduler, using the time freed up by AI to develop deeper client relationships and provide more sophisticated guidance about neighbourhoods, investment potential, and property values.

5. Transaction coordination becomes seamless

The days of manually coordinating with stagers, mortgage brokers, and inspectors are numbered. AI agents will handle the complex dance of transaction coordination, automatically scheduling inspections, following up on mortgage approvals, and keeping all parties updated on progress. This means agents need to ensure their transaction management systems can communicate effectively with AI agents while focusing their own time on handling negotiations and solving complex problems.

How this could work in practice

Let’s envision a typical property search in this new world: You have a buyer who says, “Find me a three-bedroom home with a big back yard, a renovated kitchen, and a finished basement apartment,  in a family-friendly neighbourhood under $800,000 with a good school district.”

Buyer’s AI agent:

• Analyzes past search and lifestyle preferences
• Communicates with multiple real estate agents’ AI agents
• Cross-references school ratings and neighbourhood data
• Looks through pictures and descriptions to identify a modern kitchen and a finished basement
• Schedules viewings based on buyer’s calendar
• Pre-qualifies mortgage options
• Coordinates with other service providers (inspectors, title companies)

Realtor’s AI agent:

• Matches listings with buyer criteria
• Provides detailed neighbourhood analysis
• Schedules and coordinates showings
• Generates comprehensive property reports
• Initiates preliminary paperwork
• Coordinates with seller’s agent AI

This entire initial process could happen in minutes rather than days, freeing up real estate agents to focus on what truly matters—providing strategic advice and guiding clients through the emotional journey of buying or selling a home.

The implications are clear—real estate agents need to start preparing for this shift now. This means:

• Structuring your listings and market knowledge to be AI-friendly
• Building systems that can communicate with AI agents
• Creating detailed, structured content about your local market
• Developing unique value propositions beyond basic property matching
• Focusing on the human elements that AI cannot replicate

The traditional model of real estate—where success was built on MLS listings and phone calls—is evolving into something more sophisticated. Soon, the first point of contact with a potential client might be your AI agent speaking with theirs. The question is: will your business be ready?

Just like my simple haircut booking experience showed me the future of service scheduling, it’s clear that the industry is heading toward an AI-agent-driven model. The agents who thrive will be those who embrace this change, adapting their businesses to work seamlessly with AI agents while doubling down on the human expertise that no AI can replace.

The future of real estate isn’t just digital—it’s delegated. Those who are preparing will have a significant advantage in this new landscape. Because soon enough, “have your agent call my agent” won’t just be a phrase for Hollywood or haircuts—it’ll be how real estate deals begin.

The time to prepare for this future is now. Are you ready?

Reuven Gorsht

Reuven is the Co-Founder and CEO of Deeded, a leading digital home closing platform revolutionizing the real estate closing process. With over 15 years of experience in innovation and customer experience, Reuven has worked with top Fortune 500 companies to integrate cutting-edge technologies. A recognized expert in leveraging AI for business growth, he holds business and HR degrees and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School.

The post OPINION: AI agents will change real estate—here’s how appeared first on REM.

Fast forward 25 years. Places like Cheers have been replaced by the usual cookie-cutter coffee shops or bars where the chances of someone remembering your name or favourite drink are slim. Customer intimacy and relationships have been replaced by apps, loyalty points and databases that are doing a mediocre job at best. Just like the era of Cheers has faded away, so has the holy grail of customer loyalty. Traded in for scale, volume and systems. Today, businesses are losing an estimated $1.3 trillion a year from customers who are defecting to the competition.

Selling real estate is no different. A dismal 17 per cent of homeowners actually use their agent again, according to a consumer panel at Inman Real Estate Connect San Francisco. Why only 17 per cent? Were they not happy with their agent? Was the experience bad? Not at all. In fact, 85 per cent of buyers and sellers surveyed after a transaction indicate they would they would use their agent again. So what gives?

The top reason for this “gap” will probably not make sense at all. Homeowners do not rehire their real estate agent because they simply cannot remember their agent’s name. The same person, who helped them make one of the largest financial decisions of their lives, has his or her name faded into the oblivion. How is this even possible?

We live in a world that’s never been noisier. From social media bombarding us with endless Facebook feeds, to the dozens of new tools and ways to communicate. Attention is a scarce resource – a person has only so much of it, and eventually, everyone forgets. The bad news is that it’s only going to get much harder to be remembered. While social media has empowered the average person to reach clients in ways that only massive businesses could afford to in the past, realize that you’re competing on a whole new playing field with millions of others. Consumers are drinking information from a firehose and we’re all competing for the ultimate prize – a client’s attention.

So you’re probably thinking, what’s the good news here? How can I begin to cut through all this noise? Before you start thinking about increasing your marketing budget or sending more holiday cards, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it’s going to take a trip down memory lane to the 1980s, or watching a couple of reruns of Cheers.

Think about why you buy from a particular brand or establishment. There are many factors that could impact the purchasing decision, but first and foremost, we are conditioned to choose businesses and brands that make us feel good and give us a great experience. There’s a good reason why the Apple store is always packed, or why Starbucks does $21 billion in annual revenues with less than $250 million in marketing. Everyone has a story or two about a great experience that they tell all their friends about. Your role is to deliver and create memorable moments that not only have your clients remembering your name, but also telling their story to others.

Whoa, that sounds hard, right? Actually, it’s much easier than you think. Often, it’s the small things that are most memorable. The lunchtime meal you had wasn’t that great, but you sure remember those nice chocolates they brought with the bill.

Reality is that your client is not going to remember that you negotiated until you turned blue to get them an extra $10,000 on their home. They’re not going to remember the fancy $300 gift basket you got them on closing. What they will remember are the little, unexpected things.

What’s the secret sauce to create something memorable? You have to make it genuine, valuable, and unexpected.

Here are some examples:

• Michael nearly doubled his referrals by making it a practice to show up with a pizza on his clients’ moving day. Thirty minutes of time and $20 worth of pizza go a long way when Michael’s clients are having a long and super-stressful day. That’s something they remember and you can almost bet that story will get mentioned at his clients’ housewarming party.
• Jeanne noticed her clients were complaining about how dirty the windows were when she first showed them their new home. A day after they moved, Jeanne took the initiative to schedule a window cleaning for her clients. Jeanne helped her clients when they didn’t expect it. Seven months later, the same clients used her to purchase an investment property.
• Joel sends every prospect he meets a hand-written card. While that doesn’t sound like a big deal, he recently visited a past client who was a man of incredible means. Six months after Joel sent the handwritten note, his card was still on his client’s desk.

The majority of your clients will choose to do business with you based on how you made them feel. We are human after all. The gut is always faster than the mind when it comes to making decisions.

Staying memorable takes more than running creative Facebook ads, fancy closing gifts and postcard mailers. It takes a traditional, human approach to building relationships and being genuinely helpful when your clients need you most.

Now is the time to become the local “Cheers” in your market. Where everybody knows (and remembers) your name…and they’re always glad you came.

Reuven Gorsht

Reuven is the Co-Founder and CEO of Deeded, a leading digital home closing platform revolutionizing the real estate closing process. With over 15 years of experience in innovation and customer experience, Reuven has worked with top Fortune 500 companies to integrate cutting-edge technologies. A recognized expert in leveraging AI for business growth, he holds business and HR degrees and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School.

The post Where everybody knows your name appeared first on REM.

That Saturday afternoon, I entered the insanely busy store. Wendy, one of the associates, was quick to greet me and grabbed my claim tag as she went off to look for my purchase. After a few minutes I saw Wendy coming from the back of the store with a disappointed look on her face. She started apologizing. Apparently, my pants never returned from the tailor and were nowhere to be found in the store. What happened next completely caught me off guard.

“We’re going to refund you for the pants,” she said. With all the noise in the background, I wasn’t sure I heard her correctly, so I quickly clarified. “No, I don’t want a refund, I want the pants.” Wendy looked up with a smile and said, “No, we’re going to refund you the price of the pants and have them shipped to you overnight, so you’ll have them for Monday morning.”

I was dumbfounded. I’ve been in so many situations where the person on the other side of the counter messed up and didn’t even apologize, let alone rectify the situation. On Monday morning, a courier arrived at my front door with a pair of hemmed pants and a personalized note, thanking me for my business and apologizing once again. Huh?

Like many other top brands, Lululemon clearly understands the value of customer experience. They may have taken a loss on me this time as a customer, but their gesture not only delighted me, it encouraged me to share this story with many of my friends, and now you. How much are those free pants worth now?

Lululemon is not alone. There are good reasons why the Apple Store is always crowded or that Starbucks is the second most Instagramed brand in the world. Brands that understand the value of customer experience consistently see their clients spending more, coming back time-and-time again, and best of all, telling all their friends and family. You simply cannot buy this level of exposure.

In real estate, where most clients choose their agent based on referrals and previous clientele, the single common element should, in theory, be providing clients with the best experience for their needs. It sounds like a logical and practical way to grow a business; make your customers super happy and in return, they will keep coming back and tell all their friends how great an agent you are.

However, reality is very different. Many agents are placing their time and hard-earned dollars on methods that don’t necessarily provide the best returns. The National Association of Realtors’ Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends report is full of great insights that show popular marketing methods such as search engines or newspaper ads account for less than one per cent each of all closed seller leads. Mobile or tablet applications, direct mail pieces (newsletters, flyers, postcards) and advertising specialty (calendars, magnets) also account for less than one per cent of closed seller leads, according to the survey.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with spending on marketing and building a strong, recognizable brand (and doing a stellar job marketing your client’s property). However, in a world that’s increasingly full of noise and distractions, where the average human attention span is now eight seconds, a 33 per cent drop since 2000, getting great results is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive. Still not buying it? Google the words “free home evaluation” and see how many results are returned (366 million on the day I wrote this post).

This isn’t an argument against marketing. Marketing is a staple of business and will always be at the core of the real estate profession. However, the results of delivering a really great client experience go beyond any marketing you could buy. It’s the one critical aspect of the business that presents the greatest opportunity, yet is so often overlooked as the agent’s focus shifts to the next transaction.

There may have been many new technologies and marketing advances over the last decade or so, but the secret sauce of getting clients to buy again and again still remains the same. Clients will come back because they’ve either had a good experience with a company (or agent) in the past, or know someone else who has.

You may not be able to give away a free pair of pants, but what you do have at your disposal is the ability to create a memorable experience that “wows” your clients. So what’s your client experience strategy? How will you deliver a service that is a notch above the rest?

Reuven Gorsht

Reuven is the Co-Founder and CEO of Deeded, a leading digital home closing platform revolutionizing the real estate closing process. With over 15 years of experience in innovation and customer experience, Reuven has worked with top Fortune 500 companies to integrate cutting-edge technologies. A recognized expert in leveraging AI for business growth, he holds business and HR degrees and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School.

The post What’s your client experience strategy? appeared first on REM.