Brad Inman To Agents: AI Will Eliminate The Great Clear Cooperation Debate
Sometimes inspiration strikes at the most unexpected times.
For Inman News founder Brad Inman, that meant the spontaneous tossing out of a speech he had spent several weeks working on the day before he was set to deliver it at Inman Connect San Diego.
Brad Inman
“I changed my whole speech yesterday,” Inman revealed to a crowd of somewhat groggy, but attentive Connect San Diego attendees.
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The former journalist and entrepreneur reminded the audience of an Inman Connect event in San Francisco that took place 10 years ago, in which he came up with his “latte vision,” a goal to make homebuying as easy as buying a latte.
“Today, I want to give you a new vision,” Inman said.
It was all precipitated with a recent homebuying and selling process Inman went through with his wife, Yaz. The couple made the tough decision to sell a property in West Hollywood and buy a new home in San Francisco.
Inman said the transaction worked out well, in large part because of the four hard-working agents he had handling the deal on his behalf. They operated with transparency and efficiency, but that doesn’t mean the typical pain points of the transaction were eliminated entirely.
“Thanks to the hard work of these agents it was fantastic,” Inman said. “But the process was not.”
Inman’s new vision of homebuying is one in which the process of buying a home can match the experience one feels at home, “which is extremely joyful,” he said.
And he believes that implementing AI into the real estate transaction can get agents and their clients to that joyful experience.
“So my slogan, which is going to lead into my vision for the real estate industry is ‘Joyful intelligence for joyful experience,’” Inman said.
As AI continues to develop and industry professionals continue to find new ways of implementing it into their businesses, it will have a significant impact on how transactions are conducted and on how important industry issues are addressed, Inman said.
“I think AI is going to eliminate NIMBYs,” Inman predicted. “At the core of the problem are selfish people who don’t allow others to have housing next to them. I do truly believe that we’re going to end that because when we’re more enlightened and smarter because of AI, the selfishness in our character is going to become evident.”
He went on to predict that AI will help eliminate housing discrimination and bias, as well as inaccurate weather model predictions.
Recalling the famous, but controversial statement by the artist Picasso, “I only compete with God,” Inman said he has a similar view of AI.
“This great invention is god-like,” Inman said. “And that’s where my optimism comes from.”
The current mortgage, title and appraisal processes “don’t work,” Inman argued. He also said that when online listing portals first came out he “was a big fan,” but the process of scrolling through pages and pages of listings has become so tedious.
“What will AI bring? It will bring chaos to clarity,” Inman said.
Industry professionals now have the tools to create their own AI engine, Inman said. Consumers are becoming more AI-savvy as well, but they’ll still need agents to guide them through it.
“So, [like] never before are they going to challenge your advice and wisdom, but if you do this right … you’ll begin to create this joyful experience, and you’ll get credit for it,” Inman said.
Inman had the recent experience of asking an AI-powered engine to recommend some homes for him — anywhere in the world — that he and Yaz might like.
“They brought me four perfectly matched, fabulous homes to me,” Inman said.
That’s where he sees the future of home search going — with tools bringing home options directly to the consumer. Negotiations will become smoother and AI assistants will absorb the knowledge of their agents.
In addition, AI is poised to eliminate all of the debate surrounding pocket listings and the National Association of Realtors’ Clear Cooperation Policy, Inman predicted.
“None of it will matter,” he said.
“Marketing will be done by transparency. Marketing will be done by this beautiful thing we call selling homes brought to the consumer.”
More importantly, AI will be able to anticipate problems with the transaction before they even happen — and solve them, Inman asserted.
And he sees all of this transformation taking place within the next three years.
“The whole experience won’t just be smarter, faster and smoother, it will be more joyful,” Inman said.
Industry disruption is already here, Inman said — and Inman Connect is a place where disruption and innovation are embraced, a mentality that event attendees should take advantage of.
“It’s that beautiful connection that Connect is named for, between agent and technology,” Inman said.
“Those who adapt first — guess what? You’re going to be the super agent.”
