After touring about 25 homes, Brian O’Toole decided to buy one in Carlsbad. It was listed for about $2.4 million and AI saved him about $45,000 at closing. “I think it’s kind of the way the future,” O’Toole said. “Especially in San Diego, especially today, where every dollar counts, I was looking to have a little bit of cost savings that I could use to put more money in my pocket.” O’Toole’s Carlsbad home is his fourth. This time he used a platform called TurboHome, one of several AI-powered brokerages that take away the need for buyers or sellers to pay a traditional real estate agent commission. O’Toole matched with a real agent virtually who knew his market and used AI to compare neighborhood sales and inspection reports. He also had help if he needed it setting up self-tours and with the closing process. In the end, the seller paid a flat fee and the $45,000 he saved is what would have gone to a traditional agent. It’s a fair question to wonder if traditional agents feel slighted by AI, but they’re using it too. “I welcome it,” said Rob Brown, a broker of 26 years. “For my business, AI just makes everything a little bit easier, everything a little bit faster and everything checked.” Brown said there’s room for both. “I was reading this book and it was like, ‘Real estate agents are done because of AI,’ and, you know, probably like in the 80s, ‘Real estate agents are done because of computers,’ ” Brown said. “It’s just a tool that we use.” Brown even went so far as to say agents need to get with the AI times. “I would say that, if you’re a real estate agent and you’re not using this, you’re going to be at a big disadvantage, particularly over the next couple of years,” Brown said. “It’s moving very quickly. And so I would say: Learn how to use it. If you’re not very tech savvy, you might be in trouble.” If someone’s looking for in-person help with the same person from start to finish, they may still opt for a traditional agent. But if they don’t mind being more hands-on, AI may be the money-saving route for them. ...read more read less