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Comment by thinkmorebetter | Hacker News Reader

I think it’s a bit misguided in the pitch by too boldly trying to replace all buyer agents. A lot of what realtors offer, especially to first time buyers (~1/3), is emotional support and confidence/security for making the biggest financial decision in their lives. I don't believe an AI isn’t going to be able to do that. But if you’re a second+ time buyer, then I think it makes more sense.

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Is emotional support worth $60k on a $2mm house? No, it isn't. Lots of realtors are trying to justify their worth but the reality is a large number of transactions still involve the buyers/sellers doing their own research + due diligence.

> Is emotional support worth $60k on a $2mm house? No, it isn't.

There is no practical ceiling on what people will spend to feel comforted and encouraged, or to have their choices applauded.

I am not defending the realtor fees here. The free market should decide what is worth to anyone. My take is simply that an AI realtor doesn't do all that a (good) human one does.

After my first home buying experience, I can assure you that "emotional support" is actually "emotional manipulation"

I actually do believe that AI can make someone feel more comfortable with their purchase.

Let's break down the communications that realtors currently do to comfort buyers (mostly over text, which is also how we communicate):

Tell you comparably priced properties - we do this. Remind you the steps in the process - we do this. Tell you basic stats about local transactions (such as telling dejected buyers that only 1/6 home offers get accepted in the bay) - we do this. Send newsletters for market updates - we do this. Tell you what other agents are telling them - we do this.

I think if someone really needs a person putting a hand on their shoulder, then we aren't that. But we have implemented many of the typical comforting realtor actions

> we do this

Everything you've described could be achieved with a basic web app.

Not seeing what AI brings to the table here other than being a fake human that gives inaccurate advice ~5-10% of the time. Which seems risky when I am making the biggest financial decision of my life.

Shall I tell you about the qualified and professional human appraisers that I’ve hired in the past? I usually get results in the range of 0.5x-5.0x what is realistic market. I had a job that I would hire usually at least 3 appraisers for every transaction and could pick which appraisal to share with insurance, lenders, etc based on whether a high/low value would benefit me. Humans are flawed too.

What you describe there has nothing to do with humans being flawed.

There simply isn't any "right answer" for how much a house is worth.

I've used countless web-based valuation services and they all had quite large price ranges as well.

> Not seeing what AI brings to the table here other than being a fake human that gives inaccurate advice ~5-10% of the time

So you agree that AI does bring something to the table if it can narrow the range to ~5-10% ?

Human appraisals are a joke and should be a narrower range than what I've seen. It's never exact, even a house for sale is just an Ask Price for what they hope someone will pay. It does no good to a buyer if their agent advise buyers on prices and values and what to offer if this range is too wide or margin of error too large. It basically comes down to offer X% below ask if you like it, offer ask if you love it, offer X% over ask if you will cry over losing it. No AI needed or agent needed at all, this is just a personal finance decision making process and more about your emotions & budget than anything else.

AI or human, they want to close the deal and get their share. They mostly don't care if that's good for you. Chances you will bring again some business are quite low.

Fair enough, and I wish you luck because I welcome down pressure on existing fees. My take is simply that the positioning seems to unnecessarily make it a fight against all buyer agents, whereas it might be better to start by targeting the buyers who already "get it".

Currently, the description on our website says that we use AI to help you interpret real estate data and gain an edge on other buyers - nothing about fighting other agents.

I think that is injected opinion from commenters here. & yes, we are targeting buyers who already believe that they need a service like this due to their past or current experience

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