AI Already

I had the pleasure of co-presenting a session on AI with John Paul (CEO of Prospector Pro – genuinely impressive piece of kit worth checking out) at the ICG Approved event in Reading this week.

(You can blame him for the Ant & Dec analogy …)

While JP focused on the agency benefits, I dug into the consumer side. What are your buyers doing right now? How are sellers changing their agent selection research? And how the hell do you even start to grapple with these things?

The short bit to know is that AI in property isn’t a “coming soon” attraction. It’s already past the starting credits, halfway through the popcorn and rewriting the plot as it goes. Forget the idea that this is all for the TikTok generation, either. The data’s in: 39% of consumers are already using AI to find property and a quarter of over-45s are happily letting machine learning do the heavy lifting. Even the ballroom dancing crowd are in on the act, using AI to check broadband speeds and local planning quirks before they’ve even booked a viewing.

The shift is subtle but seismic. Glossy photos and a prime slot on Rightmov£ are no longer the trump cards they once were. Sellers and landlords now expect agents who understand how AI can get their property in front of the right people, in smarter, more personalised ways – because it’s what they’re doing and they expect everyone else is too.

It’s not just about “being on the portals” anymore. It’s about being in the conversation - quite literally - as AI-driven search lets buyers and tenants describe what they want as if chatting to a mate: “Find me a flat with a dance studio and a decent coffee shop nearby.” “Show me three-beds near good schools and green spaces.” Gone are the days of endless scrolling through irrelevant listings; now it’s about context, nuance and - dare I say it - a bit of actual intelligence.

This isn’t just a new coat of paint on the same old portals. It’s a fundamental change in how people make sense of property. Buyers want to know what it’s like to live somewhere, not just how many bedrooms it has. They’re asking about schools, parks, fibre broadband, yoga studios and yes, the all-important garden centre scene. AI brings this whole lifestyle together, weaving a narrative that helps people imagine their lives in a new place.

For agents, this is less a threat and more a bridge - a way to connect your local expertise to the consumer’s demand for instant, intelligent insight.

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Of course, with great power comes great … well, you know. In a world where AI can generate anything, trust is the new currency. Consumers want to know that the AI guiding their choices is reliable, private, and fair. They don’t want to be manipulated; they want meaning. That’s why “Trusted Property AI” isn’t just a strapline here at ModelProp - it’s the standard. Every recommendation, every match, every insight is underpinned by transparent logic that you can actually explain to a client over a cuppa.

So, what’s an agent to do? You don’t need to become a coder overnight, but you do need to get comfortable with AI in your daily routine. Use it to draft copy, spot opportunity gaps and answer the “why here?” question better than anyone else. Plug into platforms that enhance your expertise, not replace it. And be open about how you use AI - the more your clients trust your tech, the more they’ll trust you.

Here’s the twist: the more AI helps us understand what people really want, the more human the property business becomes. You get more time to build relationships, to be away from your screens, to live in the community that you work so hard for.

AI isn’t here to replace connection - it’s here to amplify it. Agents who get this will thrive. Those who cling to the old playbook will find themselves left behind, wondering when the rules changed.

(Spoiler alert: they already have.)