Compass agents on the power of AI in real estate

Today’s RealTrending features Rich Hopen, broker-associate of Compass and co-founder of REAL-E in New Jersey and Susan Vanech, broker-associate of Compass and founder of Compass Coastal in Connecticut. Hopen is a self-taught expert in all things ChatGPT and artificial intelligence and built an AI-powered listing chatbot. Vaneck used that chatbot to market a multi-million dollar property.

Today, they discuss the power of AI in real estate marketing, what the future holds, how they are embracing AI in their businesses and what trends they are seeing. Hopen is the editor of the e-newsletter: The AI Daily Brief where he discusses the latest trends in AI and how to apply them.

Here is a small preview of today’s interview with Susan and Rich. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:

Tracey Velt: There’s a lot of controversy there over ChatGPT. You’ve heard Elon Musk talk about the necessity to have some controls on it before it’s too late. So talk to me a little bit about that and the possibilities for AI in real estate

Rich Hopen: It’s hard to look at the news and not see someone take a position on AI. It basically ranges from this advanced technology that’s going to solve huge macro issues, and then the other end of the spectrum is that we shouldn’t unleash this thing. It’s going to destroy the human race. But one thing that everyone agrees with is that it’s a very advanced and powerful technology. It’s hard for me to really come up with any industry that’s not going to be impacted in a major way. You have a small percentage of agents that are leaning into this tech. They’re using it to generate content. And then you have a really small percentage of agents like Susan, that are getting way ahead of that and asking where it’s going. There’s all these applications, and that really involves building and having a custom Chatbot.

Susan Vanech: I want to create the content to educate the butler. So, kind of leapfrogging over what’s more exposed to the typical agent through ChatGPT. Using the AI Butler, doing exactly what Richard just said, which is adding another layer of service to that end user, and giving them the ability to engage and participate in a more human way, even though it’s through the use of this artificial intelligence. It’s about merging and bridging what we each as humans have contained within us, but having this bot that’s able to communicate on our behalf.

The RealTrending podcast features the brightest minds in real estate. Every week, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts share their success secrets, trends, and lessons learned navigating this ever-changing industry. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by Elissa Branch.