How Home Buyers Are Using AI Tools for Real Estate

Buyers are leaning into AI for housing market information, partly to deal with affordability challenges. However, they still view real estate agents as the most trusted, accurate source of information, according to a 2025 Realtor.com survey. Here’s how home buyers are using AI tools for real estate and expert tips to get the best from AI and real estate professionals.

How Buyers Are Using AI

Buyers have found that AI is especially useful for these steps and activities in the buying process.

Learning the Basics

“AI can help [buyers] understand the basics of buying a home, common terms, and broad market concepts,” says Heather Kuceba, a real estate agent at Windermere Real Estate in Bellevue, Wash. “Where it starts to fall apart is when things get specific, which is where real estate decisions live 99% of the time.”

Home Searches

Thirty-nine percent of prospective home buyers reported using AI tools in home searches, according to a 2025 survey from Veterans United Home Loans. That finding aligns with what the National Association of REALTORS® is seeing, says Austin Perez, NAR senior policy adviser on technology policy.

User-friendly advances are likely attracting buyers to AI. “Technology is becoming more intuitive with search terms,” says Brandon Doyle, real estate agent at RE/MAX Results in Maple Grove, Minn., and smart home technology columnist for NAR REALOR News. “Consumers can use natural language and describe what they want. AI is curating results that fit their needs.” Sites like Zillow, Redfin, and Homes.com are at the forefront, he adds.

Quick Answers and Validation

Buyers are bouncing ideas off AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, Doyle says. “They don’t want to feel like they’re bothering their agent, so they just type in a question quickly. They can ask, What is escrow, or what can I expect here? It’s kind of a validation tool.”

Financial Calculations

It’s fine for buyers to use AI to gather mortgage rates, loan options, or lender guidelines, but it’s best to consult a mortgage professional for anything beyond that, says Nick Avgustinov, chief information officer at AD Mortgage in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “The current AI models are having issues with inaccurate calculations, so I would recommend people still use the calculators on their lender’s website or work with their lender.”

AI may miss distinctions affecting home buyer eligibility and affordability, Kuceba says. “A W-2 employee and a business owner are evaluated very differently by lenders, and even two business owners can be treated completely differently. AI may give a ‘typical’ answer that sounds right but is completely wrong for that specific buyer.”

AI Limitations for Home Buyers

No tool is perfect, including AI. You can more easily avoid misunderstandings if you know some of the limitations including these.

Lack of Local Data

Real estate is local and quick moving, so inventory changes, but data models are trained on national data, which may not apply to a local market. Doyle worked with a younger buyer who asked about getting a termite inspection. “I’m located in Minnesota, and we don’t have termites here,” Doyle says. “So, ChatGPT probably told them, ‘Here are the things to look out for.’”

Misuse of Data

AI can misuse data by taking a precise number too literally while ignoring significant uncertainties — called “disestimation,” Doyle says. Plus, “buyers can get mixed up, interpret the data wrong, and end up with weird results. It’s OK to do some research, but at the same time, you’ve got to trust your agent.”

Absence of Direct Observation

The most accurate picture of a home comes from in-person viewing. “AI can’t walk through a home,” Kuceba says. “It doesn’t see how the light moves through the space, smell moisture issues, notice layout quirks, spot early signs of water or electrical problems, or understand why one neighborhood — or even one side of the street — has a premium over another.”

Potential to Mislead Users

Photographers are using AI to enhance property photos in a way that can be misleading, Doyle notes. A growing problem is AI-altered twilight photos, in which homes are photographed at dusk with the lights turned off. The photographer then alters the image for greater appeal. In one such photo, a house appeared to have windows at the top and accessible lights, but there were no windows, he says.

View AI Tools for Real Estate as a Starting Point

One way buyers can avoid mistakes associated with AI data is by verifying the information from a different source, Doyle says. “Validating the network we’re looking at is important. Does it pass the smell test?”

Doyle recommends checking data against tax records and school information from sites that specialize in them. “AI is pulling from forums, and names could be similar but for different schools or organizations.” For example, Osseo Area Schools is a school district in Minnesota, but other Osseos are located in other parts of the country, he says.

“It’s fine to rely on AI for searches,” Doyle says. “You’re still going to go out to the property and do your due diligence. But when we get into negotiating contracts, you really need to trust the agent, because that’s what they do for a living.

“At the end of the day, AI tools are all just algorithms; they’re pulling data from sets that are predefined,” Doyle says. “There are things you can and cannot do with them.”

Kuceba suggests viewing AI as a starting point, not a decision-maker. “You can ask it for high-level information like ‘What does the general market look like right now in Washington state?’ but don’t take it as the absolute all-there-is-to-know.”

The post How Home Buyers Are Using AI Tools for Real Estate appeared first on NAR Consumer Ad Campaign.