AI Won’t Kill Real Estate. But It Should Kill Some Old Habits.

By Willem-Bernard Schulte | eXp South Africa

This may upset a few people in my industry, but here goes:

If a tool can help me research more thoroughly, communicate more clearly and market a property more effectively, I believe my clients deserve an agent who is willing to learn how to use it.

That includes artificial intelligence.

I am firmly in favour of AI, and I am actively using it to advance my real estate business. I see learning these tools as part of taking my work seriously.

But there is a difference between using AI and handing your judgement over to it.

Clients deserve more than the old routine

Putting a property online and waiting for the phone to ring is a difficult service to defend.

Sellers deserve thoughtful preparation, useful information, clear communication and marketing that gives buyers a reason to pay attention.

Technology gives us more ways to do that. My view is that we should be curious enough to explore them and responsible enough to check the results.

“I’ve always done it this way” is becoming a weak answer to a client asking what you are doing for their property.

How I use technology in my business

My working toolkit includes ChatGPT, PropCon, Custom AI Solutions and Lightstone, alongside property portals and digital marketing tools.

They serve different purposes. They are not all AI products, and I don’t pretend they are.

I use AI to help develop marketing ideas, prepare and refine content, organise research and explain property information more clearly. My broader tools help me manage listings, investigate comparable properties and prepare client material.

I have also been developing an AI-assisted seller advisor to help people begin thinking through their property sale.

For me, the value is practical: better preparation, clearer information and more useful conversations.

A tool earns its place when it helps me do the work better.

A confident answer can still be wrong

Here is where my enthusiasm comes with a firm boundary.

AI can produce a beautifully written property description containing a feature the home does not have. It can make an estimate sound certain. It can turn incomplete information into a very convincing explanation.

That is why checking matters.

An advertised asking price is not a registered sale. An estimated floor area is not a confirmed measurement. An attractive image must still represent the property honestly.

My name goes on the work. The responsibility stays with me.

So, will AI replace estate agents?

I think it will put pressure on work that consists mainly of repeating information and producing generic advertising.

And I think that pressure is healthy.

An agent should bring judgement, local understanding, negotiation, care and accountability to a transaction. We should be able to explain why a comparable property matters, why a price needs reconsidering and what a client’s options actually mean.

For a seller in Centurion, a fast answer is useful. A well-supported answer that fits their home and circumstances is more useful.

AI gives me another way to prepare for that conversation. I still need to show up and have it.

My position is clear

I will keep learning, testing and using tools that can strengthen my business and improve the service I offer.

I will also keep questioning their answers.

Perhaps the uncomfortable question for our industry is this:

If technology can help us serve our clients better, how long can we justify refusing to learn it?

Would you feel more confident knowing your estate agent uses AI—or would it make you hesitate?

Featured image: AI-generated conceptual artwork based on my portrait. The houses and wires are a visual metaphor, not actual property listings.