💡 Smarter, Not More: How Realtors Should Really Use AI

There’s a lot of buzz around AI right now.

Everywhere you turn, someone is saying it’s the next big thing you must adopt in your business - most commonly ChatGPT.

For Realtors, that pressure can feel heavy - like if you don’t jump in today, you’ll be left behind.

But here’s the truth: adding AI to your to-do list just because it’s available and popular can cost you more than it helps.

And don't get me wrong - it's an amazingly powerful tool. I use it almost every day (the image below was AI generated as you can easily tell)!

However, I've learned if you don't have a strategy and some know-how, it can eat up your time, make your content sound like everyone else’s, and even reduce your own sharpness as a professional.

You see, AI is a perfect example of doing more without asking if more is really better.

Instead of doing more, we need to be smarter with our decisions and choose whether we should use AI first. Then, we can figure out the right way to build it into our business.

Let’s zoom out and compare how the typical person uses AI vs. how to optimize it to make you better.

Don’t add AI to your business just because 🤨

These days, it feels like a requirement to be using AI.

Every app is now "enhanced with AI" and it can easily make you feel like you're doing things the hard way if you're not using it.

On top of that, most Realtors suffer from shiny object syndrome (like me) and are always interested in the new thing that isn't necessarily the right thing.

Of course, time is limited and so you end up with a lot of Realtors swinging AI around like a bat hoping they hit something that turns into a closing.

Instead, the Realtors who rush in without a clear purpose tend to:

• Spend hours tinkering with tools instead of focusing on what matters.
• Pump out AI slop that's generic, boring, and worthless because it sounds like every other AI generated content.
• And lose sight of the bigger picture: AI is a tool, not a strategy.

Hear me when I say this: AI should serve your business, not add noise to it.

Remember, if you're spending hours using it without a lot to show for it, it's ok to have an AI-free business.

A better way to use AI in your real estate business 🧠

One reason you're not getting results from AI is likely because you're using it incorrectly or inefficiently.

Out of the box, ChatGPT it's okay.

You can use it to create a simple recipe, workout plan, or tell you a dad joke.

But ask it to write your Instagram caption or draft an email response and you'll get a generic set of sentences that are obviously AI generated.

This may be good if you are a rookie with no clue what to say, but for most pros it just waters you down. 

This is happening because you're using it like most everyone else.

Let me suggest a new way to think about using AI that will change your approach entirely: as a sparring partner for your ideas.

Instead of asking it for “the answer,” explain your idea in detail, tell it to assume the role of an expert on the topic at hand, add your local market context, and ask AI to challenge your assumptions so that you get to a deeper, higher-quality response compared to most users.

You don’t just get an output. You get a thought process that’s been refined.

Pro tip: use voice mode for this. It's way easier to give it more information compared to typing and can feel like a conversation with a mentor.

I’ll go for a walk, talk through an idea, and let the back-and-forth improve my thinking.

Most of the time, AI doesn’t give me the solution.

Instead, the conversation helps me think through my options and arrive at a stronger, more complete point of view.

For example, this AI strategy is incredibly powerful for better understanding what makes your clients tick or developing a negotiation strategy when you feel stuck.

Warning: too much AI can dull your mind 🧠

Most people are using AI in a way that will cost them. 

They're defaulting to AI when it would be just as easy (if not easier) to do the task yourself.

Have you ever gone to ChatGPT to do something and given up after 25 minutes because you couldn't get what you wanted and would have been done 10 minutes ago if you'd just done it yourself?

Here’s the warning most people miss: if you let AI do all your thinking, you lose the creative muscles that make you valuable and able to think critically!

Recent research suggests that over-reliance on AI can reduce critical thinking by encouraging what researchers call “cognitive offloading.”

In plain English: being lazy and using ChatGPT instead of thinking for yourself is going to make you dumb(er).

When it comes to AI (especially with the under 40 crowd), we're already defaulting to putting it into ChatGPT instead of thinking for ourselves.

Sharp agents don’t outsource their judgment. They use AI to spark ideas and then put those ideas into their own words.

That last step, adding your voice and connecting everything to your client is what builds trust and credibility.

Think of AI like a gym partner. It can spot you, push you, and help you lift more. But it can’t do the reps for you.

The Bottom line ✅

AI is here, but you don’t win by just using it more. You get better results by using it smarter.

Don’t let it replace your brainpower.

Use it to sharpen your thinking, brainstorm concepts, and challenge your ideas.

If you do that, AI won’t dull your mind or make you sound like everyone else.

It will make you the clearest, sharpest version of yourself.

Here's to becoming irreplaceable instead of distracted and dumb! 🚀