Real Estate AI Flash Ep 114: How Buyers and Sellers are Using AI and How Agents Win
Mar 18, 2026
Brian Boero, co-founder of 1000Watt and former Inman president, shares national research on how buyers and sellers use AI in their home journeys. He reveals how many people use AI before contacting professionals. The conversation covers why digital signals and specialization matter, what AI misses, and how agents can position themselves to be found first.
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Half Your Clients Also Use An AI Agent
- Nearly half of recent buyers and sellers used an AI chatbot during their transaction process.
- Brian Boero reports 45% used LLM chatbots (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) and he expects adoption is already above 50% now.
AI Use During Transactions Is Perceived As Helpful
- Users who used AI during transactions overwhelmingly found it valuable.
- About 90% of those who used chatbots rated them helpful, signaling this is an enduring behavioral shift, not a fad.
AI Is Now Part Of Agent Discovery
- Most AI use starts before clients hire an agent; 61% used AI to research and vet agents first.
- This pushes the change to the top of the funnel and means clients arrive already informed and pre-filtered by AI.
