Should You Use ChatGPT for Real Estate Marketing?
What’s all the hype about ChatGPT? The AI platform holds the potential to transform how agents market their business, but there are problems.
A new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot is taking the world by storm. It’s called ChatGPT (Generative Pretrained Transformer), and it’s essentially a computer program designed to converse intelligibly with users via written or spoken language. It can generate detailed, humanlike answers to their questions on practically any topic.
Real estate agents across the country are discovering they can use ChatGPT to write listing descriptions, marketing content, social media posts and more.
Marketing With ChatGPT? Top 3 Input Prompts
“I read that it took Netflix three and a half years and Facebook 10 months to reach 1 million users, but it only took ChatGPT five days,” says Laura O’Connor, president and COO of JPAR Affiliated Network. “That’s indicative of today’s world where change is happening at an ever-more-rapid pace.”
ChatGPT can write emails, essays, poetry, product descriptions, translate from one language to another and even produce lines of code within seconds, based on a prompt. Moreover, the program’s dialogue structure allows it to address follow-up queries, rectify errors, challenge erroneous assumptions and decline unsuitable requests.
While it’s currently free to join and set up an account, the program has gone viral and sometimes experiences user capacity limitations. However, it doesn’t come without problems. First, the program is working with data that hasn’t been updated since 2021, so if you want to be the trusted advisor to homebuyers and sellers, it’s vital that you don’t rely on content created by the app without fact-checking and verifying.
In a series of articles on Inman.com, Real Estate Coach Bernice Ross asked the app five common questions buyers ask agents and most of the responses were incorrect. “Perhaps the most troubling things that ChatGPT and other chatbots do is to hedge their bet by saying, ‘As a language model, I cannot provide legal advice,’ and then immediately provide information that often constitutes legal advice,” she says.
Housing market data, legal descriptions, contract language and any of-the-minute data should be avoided at all costs when using chatbots.
Here are a few examples of how real estate agents are leveraging the program:
Provide customer service
One of Andres Asion’s clients was having issues with the windows in her recently purchased new-construction home and needed the matter addressed right away.
Asion, who specializes in all aspects of high-rise development in his role as broker of Miami Real Estate Group, had been experimenting with ChatGPT and decided to ask it to draft a letter on his client’s behalf.
“She needed something quickly, so I opened ChatGPT on my phone and spoke [my request],” he says, adding that he sent the draft to his client via WhatsApp. The letter worked because the developer was at his client’s home the next day fixing the windows. “It’s like having an executive assistant with you wherever you go.”
Asion is passionate about sharing the knowledge he has acquired during his 20-year career in real estate. “I’m in several real estate group chats with 200 people from the Master Brokers Forum here in South Florida, and I like to teach what I learn,” he says.
Best Practices: “As I’ve been doing Zoom calls with friends and colleagues, I’ve found that it’s helpful to learn how to draft properly written letters for their business needs. This simple skill can make such a big difference in professionalism and success, and ChatGPT can help with that. It works well as a second set of eyes, and the most amazing thing for me is it doesn’t take you to 30 different sites to get answers [like most search engines]. It gives answers to questions immediately.” But, he cautions, it’s up to you to make sure those answers are accurate. Don’t rely on it exclusively.
Asion gives this example: “Let’s say you want to compare the pros and cons of renting versus buying ... or draft a letter showing a client how much they will save over 30 years with 5% versus 6% interest—it can give you those answers in seconds.”
Step up content creation
Jimmy Burgess, CEO of the Harman, Sullivan, Rainer Team at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Beach Properties in Santa Rosa Beach, heard about ChatGPT when it first became available to the public last fall. “I watched and listened to other industry leaders whom I respect, and also reached out to various groups around the country by phone,” he says. “Together, we began to mastermind and strategize on how to effectively use ChatGPT.”
For starters, he encouraged his agents to consult the program for inspiration when creating marketing content. To better understand what the program has to offer, they recently asked it to list five great places to watch the sunset on the Emerald Coast. “It spit out suggestions as quickly as we could type [our query],” Burgess says.
About 25 of his company’s 275 agents are currently using ChatGPT in some capacity. When agents are stumped about what to post on social media, he suggests they ask the program for 25 Realtor®-centric posts specific to their social media platform (i.e., Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn) for the current month. “It’s amazing how specific the program gets with its responses,” he says.
Burgess and his team also recognize the program’s potential to enhance listing descriptions by generating new ones or improving existing content. “It’s a great refresh for listings that are maybe getting a little stale,” he says. To accomplish this, his agents simply type an existing description into the program and request a more polished or even humorous tone. “Once it gives us the description, we will ask it for a Facebook post, a longform video, a blog post and a ‘Just Listed’ email introducing the property with all the amenity details,” he says. They typically receive a well-thought-out response to each query within seconds.
“We can also ask it to give us ‘20 creative ways to market this listing’ or ‘20 creative ideas on how to show appreciation to past clients,’ and it will give us all these new and fresh ideas,” Burgess adds
Best Practices: “You want [your content] to be in your own voice, so we make tweaks [and rewrite] to personalize it,” Burgess says, who suggests agents use the content as a guide and not publish it verbatim. He notes that ChatGPT is not a substitute for human expertise and judgment, so real estate agents should always verify everything generated by the program before using it.
Integrate, not replace
There is concern that ChatGPT may displace jobs and render them obsolete, but O’Connor doubts that sentiment. When we look at all the technology that came out for travel, for example, everybody said travel agents would no longer exist. But those who best figured out how to use technology for travel became that much more valuable.”
Best Practices: She adds, “Real estate professionals can integrate ChatGPT into their business to get ideas and devise action plans. Success with ChatGPT [hinges on] good information in, good information out. If you’re not writing the query correctly, you’re probably not going to get a great response. The program is new and still has a lot of learning [to do], so if the human piece isn’t doing their due diligence, it could end up looking like the [individual posing the question] doesn’t know the industry very well.”
A support tool
Madison Roberts, a sales associate with Oppenheim Realty in Fort Lauderdale, views ChatGPT merely as a support tool. “It’s not an end-all-be-all,” she says. “It can do the heavy lifting for you, but everything needs to be fact-checked before posting.”
Prior to hosting a recent smart-contract workshop, she consulted the program about the benefits of having a smart contract in real estate. “It gave me the top 10 positives and negatives with full definitions, but I obviously verified it and made it my own. It helps to [make your queries] specific, especially when you ask it to write a [description] about a house.”
Best Practices: Users essentially get back what they put in. “You can ask, ‘What’s the best school in this area over here?’ and get an accurate response, but you still want to do your due diligence,” Roberts says. She notes that the program’s skills are limited to the year 2021.
“When I asked, ‘What are the top 10 tech conferences of 2023?’ it said, ‘I can’t answer that right now because 2023 is not updated yet.’ When I asked it for a marketing plan, it only gave me five examples.”
Although AI can be helpful, many people still prefer human interaction and guidance with their home purchase or sale, Roberts says. “Most people want their hand held by their Realtor®. It would be great if ChatGPT had an OpenAI to Twitter, for instance, so it could actually pick up on trends and see what people are talking about. There’s the privacy aspect, but it would be interesting to see.”
“I recommend trying ChatGPT, but be careful because you could easily spend hours playing with it and having your mind blown,” Burgess says.
Asion concurs. “The speediness and professionalism [with which] you’re able to reply gives you an edge over others, but I think most people will catch up to this technology fairly quickly,” he says.
Just remember, says Ross, “Use it with caution.” Sometimes, doing things the old fashioned way still works best, but ChatGPT can offer outlines or ideas for better marketing, letters and social content. #
Leslie C. Stone is a Vero Beach-based freelance writer.
AI Too Dangerous?
At press time, a group of more than 1,000 tech leaders sent an open letter calling on artificial intelligence (AI) labs to put the pause button on products for six months. Many feel that the tech is advancing rapidly without a full understanding of the consequences as they may “pose profound risks to society and humanity.” This is something to keep in mind should you choose to test out the capabilities.
8 Ways to Use ChatGPT in Real Estate
1. Answering FAQs, such as basic questions about buying or selling a home.
2. Automate routine tasks.
3. Lead generation and qualification.
4. Automated scheduling of property viewings and/or follow-up calls.
5. Send personalized messages to clients and prospects.
6. Generate outlines for blog posts, social media updates and listing descriptions.
7. Suggest hashtags to add to social media posts.
8. Enhanced customer service (i.e., engage with your client and sphere by generating personalized messages and providing recommendations for properties that match their criteria).
Best Practices for Using ChatGPT
1. Always double-check the information it gives you as it’s not always accurate and can be dated.
2. Housing market data, legal descriptions, contract language and any up-to-the-minute data should be avoided when using chatbots.
3. Add a personal touch to marketing pieces. Just spitting out content and using it as-is will not be as effective as if you tweak the content to fit your personality.
4. Always review content for any Fair Housing violations. The program has offered answers that discriminate against race, gender and minority groups.
Remember, ChatGPT can be a useful tool for real estate agents who want help crafting marketing copy and letters, but there are problems. Real estate agents must review all copy to ensure it is accurate and does not discriminate or provide false information.
We Asked ChatGPT to Create a Marketing Plan for a New Listing
The program created this list in less than 60 seconds.
It obviously isn’t perfect, for example, most agents hold an open house earlier than four weeks into the listing, but it does offer ideas.
Week 1: Preparing the Listing
• Hire a professional photographer and videographer to capture high-quality images and videos of the property.
• Write a compelling listing description that highlights the unique features of the property.
• Create a floor plan of the property to include in the listing.
Week 2: Online Marketing
• Create a dedicated webpage for the property on your website.
• Post the listing on popular real estate websites like Zillow and Realtor.com
• Use social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to promote the listing.
• Create a virtual tour of the property and share it on social media and the dedicated webpage.
Week 3: Direct Marketing
• Create flyers and brochures to distribute to potential buyers and real estate agents.
• Send out email campaigns to your database of potential buyers.
• Place an ad in the local newspaper or real estate magazine.
Week 4: Open Houses and Showings
• Host a broker open house to give other agents the opportunity to see the property.
• Host public open houses on weekends to attract potential buyers.
• Schedule private showings for interested buyers.
Week 5: Follow-up and Reassessment
• Follow up with all potential buyers and agents who have shown interest in the property.
• Reassess the marketing plan and make adjustments as necessary based on feedback from potential buyers and agents.
• Consider offering incentives to attract more buyers, such as a price reduction or seller-paid closing costs.