A recent survey revealed that 60% of letting agents believed technology should be used more within the industry. Despite the willingness to embrace technology, a separate survey found that 53% of those asked were not using AI or had any plans to, and 76% had received no training on how to use AI responsibly.
We look at how advances in technology, the rise of AI, and proptech can help you streamline processes, increase efficiency, and support tenants and landlords more effectively.
What is AI and proptech?
AI (artificial intelligence) is technology that allows computers (and other machines) to carry out tasks that traditionally only people could do. A common type of AI is large language models (LLMs) that generate human-like writing, such as ChatGPT and Claude.
Proptech refers to technology that assists the property industry with sales or task management. Although proptech also includes the rental sector, the term ‘renttech’ is on the rise. This newest term specifically describes technology that supports the rental industry (tenants, landlords, and letting agents).
How can letting agents use AI and proptech?
As with all types of technology, understanding its capabilities and how it can benefit you is key. One of the biggest advantages of AI and proptech for letting agents, is how it can help streamline repetitive processes. This should free up your time and increase productivity, also enabling you to commit more (human) resources to supporting landlords.
Practical examples of how you can use AI and property tech include:
Virtual viewings
Virtual tours and virtual viewings became the norm during the pandemic and are now a staple part of most online property pages. If this isn’t something your agency has embraced, it could be well worth considering.
The next step up from virtual tours is the use of augmented reality (AR). This provides prospective tenants with a 3D tour, allowing them to ‘walk through’ the property. AR can give tenants a greater sense of layout, depth, height, and space compared to a typical virtual tour. AR could be particularly good when it comes to marketing incomplete new builds by showing the final construction.
Using proptech (and, in particular, AR) to support initial viewings can help you save significant amounts of time, helping you to filter out indecisive tenants and focus on serious leads.
Virtual viewings also make property viewing far more accessible to a wider range of people, for example, those looking to relocate.
Content creation
Using an AI language model is one of the simplest ways to integrate technology into everyday practices. Services such as ChatGPT can generate property descriptions or other marketing text with just a few basic instructions.
To create the most effective content, you should provide as much information as possible, including the main points you want covered, and specify the style of writing you prefer (for example, neutral, chatty, friendly, or formal). Remember to check the content generated is accurate and that it suits your agency’s overall marketing style and tone.
As well as written content, you can also use AI to edit images, ensuring they’re clear and appealing to potential tenants. Using traditional photo editing tools to brighten photos or sharpen up blurry lines can take considerable time, but with AI it can be done in just a few minutes.
Tenant referencing and contract management
Tenant referencing is a vital part of the screening process and is usually a condition of rent guarantee insurance. Policies often specify that certain checks must be carried out, if not, the policy will be invalid.
Typical checks you’ll be expected to carry out include verifying tenant ID, right to rent, and credit checks to make sure tenants don’t have CCJs or bankruptcy orders against them. A recent study found that only 24% of letting agents were familiar with IDVT (Identity Document Validation Technology), which is a quick way to authenticate documents, thereby minimising the risk of errors.
Automation software also enables you to streamline the contract signing process, capturing and recording amendments so that all agreements are always up to date.
Chatbots
You can free up considerable amounts of time by using an AI-powered chatbot to answer simple queries. Any complicated questions can be filtered and redirected to a human. Chatbots also mean your agency is ‘available’ 24 hours a day, seven days a week, boosting your customer service.
What are the risks of using AI and proptech?
Utilising AI and proptech can save you time and costs, thereby increasing efficiency and enabling you to focus on other areas of your business. However, as with all technology, there are risks that you’ll need to guard against, for example:
- Data breaches – if your system is affected by malware, sensitive data could be compromised and leaked.
- Misinformation – if you’re using AI tools to create content, remember to check the source to ensure the information you include is factual.
- Future costs – as technology improves and tools are upgraded, costs may also increase; therefore, it’s essential to factor these into any budget plans.
- Compliance – you’ll need to make sure you’re compliant with any legislation, for example, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), which protects people’s data and sets out rules about how it can be used.
Risks can be mitigated by ensuring best practice guidelines are in place. For example, training colleagues on how to store customer data correctly and how to prevent malware from being unwittingly downloaded.
Should a cyber attack or breach happen, you can minimise the financial impact with cyber insurance. Policies vary across providers, but at Alan Boswell Group, we cover:
- loss of income if your network or business is interrupted;
- breach expenses, such as investigation and notification costs;
- crisis management and PR expenses to minimise reputational damage;
- data and software loss;
- extortion and fraud costs via your computer systems.
Having a policy in place can give your agency the confidence to pursue the latest proptech, enabling you and your team to focus on supporting landlords and tenants.
For more information about how we can help protect your business with a tailored cyber insurance package, call a member of our team on 01603 649727.
Information provided in this article was correct at the time of publication. This article is intended as a guide only. Please note that legislation does change, it is always best to check the most up to date guidance on gov.uk.
