Selina Eizik
October 7, 2026
AI tools are starting to help real estate agents manage buyers' home searches. They can suggest changes to search criteria and draft messages to clients. Before using those features, an agent needs to know whether the software waits for approval or acts on its own.
Realtor.com recently introduced RealAssist AI within Realtor.com+. The reported features include setting up client searches, summarizing client activity, refining searches and drafting messages for agent review.
If you're considering software with these features, ask the vendor to show you how that review works. Can you check a suggested search change before it takes effect? Can you edit a message before it reaches your client? Separately, confirm with your MLS what listing data the tool is allowed to use.
Ask buyers how they arrived at their search criteria
A buyer may come to you with preferences shaped by that research. Ask whether they used AI and, if so, whether they can share the answers and sources. That gives you something specific to review together.
Keep the buyer's preferences separate from claims that need checking. If an AI answer says something about a school or neighborhood, verify it before using it to guide the search. A detailed answer can still be wrong.
Check permission before sharing MLS data
MLS and industry leaders are discussing how to license listing data for AI use. Those discussions do not establish permission for your account to upload listing records to an AI service.
Before sharing data, ask your broker and MLS whether the proposed use is allowed. Ask the vendor how it receives the data and whether it keeps a copy or uses it to train its models. Get those answers in writing.
SourceRE has announced a platform intended to connect participating MLSs with AI systems such as ChatGPT and Claude under each MLS's rules. Check whether your MLS participates and whether it authorizes the task you want to perform. The announcement alone does not answer either question.
Review a suggested search change before applying it
Start by saving the buyer's confirmed search criteria in your CRM. An AI suggestion should appear separately, with an explanation of what would change and why.
The agent reviewing it should be able to compare the suggestion with what the buyer asked for. If it introduces a new preference, confirm that preference with the buyer before changing the search.
For a team, assign someone to review suggestions so they do not sit unattended. Keep a record of who approved a change and when.
Approving a search change should not also approve a message to the client. Check each separately. Ask the vendor to demonstrate what happens when no one responds to a suggestion: it should remain pending, rather than go ahead automatically.
Check property details before sending AI-written marketing
The Inquirer also describes agents using AI to draft brochures and emails.
Before scheduling or sending that content, check the property details against an authorized source. Review claims about schools and neighborhoods rather than copying them from a buyer's AI research.
An approved email template does not mean every property detail later inserted into it is correct. Keep each message as a draft until someone has checked the finished version.
If you're adding AI to your existing follow-up system, test one task first. Have the software draft a message without sending it, then review the result. Confirm the data permissions and approval settings before letting it do more.
Book a strategy session if you want help deciding where AI fits into your client follow-up.
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