There’s a growing sense of unease in real estate, especially among agents who work with investors. As AI tools get smarter and automation creeps into nearly every corner of the transaction process, many are starting to ask the hard question: will agents still be relevant?
As someone who sits on both sides of the fence, as a VC in tech and a family office owner and real estate firm partner, I’ve watched this conversation evolve with interest. And here’s what I can tell you: yes, AI is absolutely transforming real estate investing. But that doesn’t automatically render agents obsolete.
What’s changing is who remains essential. Not every agent will be needed, but the ones who understand how to work alongside technology, rather than against it, are going to be the most valuable players in the ecosystem.
AI has proven it can bring in $100M in sales
AI tools have already automated a huge chunk of the real estate workflow. They’re deployed across the process, like tools that scrape MLS listings, public records, and private data sources to find undervalued or off-market properties. Machine learning models help estimate after-repair value (ARV), project cash flow, and even run renovation budgets.
In fact, a 2025 survey of 100+ real estate brokerages revealed that almost nine out of ten (87%) broker agents are reportedly actively using AI in their workflow. That’s a jump of 7 percentage points versus the same survey’s results in 2024.
And now, AI isn’t just behind the scenes. The startup eSelf AI recently introduced what’s being coined the “world’s first AI real estate agent.” And it has already shown its chops: having provided enough quality leads to generate $100M in sales for a real estate brokerage firm in Portugal.
The AI agent is reportedly adept enough to gather buyers’ preferences then cross-match these to available listings, offer property descriptions, and even guide virtual tours. And since the brokerage also serves international clients from the U.S. and Brazil, the AI agent has also solved one big challenge: time differences. Since the agent can provide near-instant replies, it eliminates the need for 24/7 staffing.
This kind of development should be a wake-up call for the industry. The AI doesn’t sleep, doesn’t miss follow-ups, and can process vast amounts of data instantly. For agents who rely on speed or basic search alone, this is real competition.
Still, AI can’t pull connections or read a room
As impressive as AI is, here’s what it doesn’t do. AI doesn’t walk a property and tell me the neighbor’s barking dog makes it a tougher short-term rental play. It doesn’t have a network of contractors who’ll prioritize a job because we’ve worked together for years.
It doesn’t know that this street, just one block over from a hot pocket, still gets flooded every rainy season.
And it definitely doesn’t negotiate.
Let’s be honest, plenty of agents won’t survive the AI shift. If all you’re doing is emailing MLS links and unlocking doors, you’re already replaceable. But agents who bring local insight, understand investor math, and know how to find or structure off-market deals are still in demand.
There’s no AI model for knowing how to keep a deal alive when the appraisal comes in low and the seller is about to walk. There’s no replacement for an agent who can manage emotions, navigate egos, and close the gap between what the spreadsheet says and what the people in the deal actually want.
Flexible agents are more likely thrive
The irony is that the rise of AI doesn’t have to push agents out of the picture. The most adaptive agents are already reaping the benefits of newer developments because they’ve recognized this tech is here to stay — might as well make the most of it.
That being said, it’s easy to assume that keeping up with AI just means adding a few tools to your stack. But that’s not exactly what makes the difference. The agents who are pulling ahead aren’t necessarily the most “techie,” but more those who are adapting their thinking. They’ve shifted from treating technology like a threat to treating it like a tactical edge.
If you’re not sure where to begin with AI adoption, start with something simple but high-leverage: marketing. Some teams are already using computer vision to automate photo selection in listing emails, pulling the best angles — front exteriors, kitchens, outdoor spaces — and dropping them into layouts without any manual sorting. One digital brokerage in California saw a 28% lift in click-throughs after using AI to identify what buyers respond to most, and automatically select listing photos based on that data.
Others are speeding up listing prep by automating the back end. AI already has proven use-cases in this area, flagging rent schedules, legal risks, and key clauses in minutes. It’s a great route to free-up agents from being bogged down by manual review of leases and contracts.
A multinational real estate firm reports processing over 200,000 lease agreements and cutting their workload by 60% through an AI-powered document management platform.
The best agents I work with also know where not to spend their time. One multifamily specialist I know has trained an AI model on past pitch decks, so it can generate draft investment memos for each new listing. She still reviews every word, but she’s not starting from scratch anymore. That’s what AI should be doing: buying back time so you can focus on higher-value decisions.
If you’re an agent, don’t feel pressured to master every new tool. The priority should instead be to audit where your time is going and ask a basic question: what parts of this job still require me personally? If the answer is “not many,” then AI will replace that part of the process. If the answer is “the strategy, the negotiation, the nuance,” then lean into that, and use AI to eliminate everything else that distracts from it.
This is the split we’re heading toward. Some agents will spend their time chasing paperwork, filtering cold leads, and rewriting the same listing descriptions every week. Others will offload those tasks to AI and focus on what clients actually pay for: judgment, speed, access, and outcomes.
One group will struggle to keep up. The other will get more efficient, more profitable, and harder to compete with. Remember: technology is indeed evolving, but human relationships, negotiation skills, and market instincts remain the deciding factors in real estate.
Zain Jaffer is a VC, real estate investor, and CEO of Zain Ventures, an investment firm.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners. To contact the editor responsible for this piece: [email protected].
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