Tech Writer's Experiment Doesn't Bode Well for Realtors

Selling a house usually starts with hiring an agent. Stuart A. Thompson started with a chatbot instead. In a first-person piece for the New York Times, the tech reporter describes using Google's Gemini to do nearly everything a listing agent would: write the description, stage the photos, decode legal jargon, manage showing requests, and even script his negotiation emails. There was one "major mistake," in which the bot suggested offering a 0% commission to the buyer's agent, which Thompson happened to know was illegal and would have opened him up to fines.

Still, he and his wife ultimately sold their Hudson Valley ranch for just over $600,000, which was above the price a few (human) real estate agents had initially suggested. Thompson figures that AI helped him keep about $90,000 he'd otherwise have paid out (including to his own agent) or left on the table. Yes, there's always the chance that a human agent might have, in fact, gotten him a better price, but Thompson was satisfied. "I'm persuaded that AI may well transform real estate agents into something more like travel agents," he writes. "Once essential to navigating an opaque process, they could soon become more of a nice-to-have for busy people who want a more carefree experience." Read the full piece.