The founder and CEO of Rechat discusses the growing adoption of AI in the industry and what agents should do in a “more competitive than ever” market.
Key Points:
- Shayan Hamidi founded Rechat in 2015 as an agent's “super app.” As the company evolved, AI moved from the backend to the forefront of its products.
- The agents “have to perform an incredible amount of tasks,” Hamidi said. This has stated that AI is “perfect for real estate.”
- But that doesn't mean that it makes the job easier. To survive in today's competitive market, agents must work harder and commit to it in the long run, Hamidi added.
Rechat wants to be a one-stop shop for real estate agents. And ten years later, the company has made that mark. Founder and CEO Shayan Hamidi also debuted this year in the SP 200 rankings of real estate's most influential leaders.
Rechat's self-proclaimed “super app” offers marketing tools, CRM and transaction management centers. A more recent addition – an AI assistant called Lucy – is designed to help agents do more (shortened).
For Hamidi, the world of artificial intelligence is nothing new. He acquired technology by studying computer science, mathematics and economics at the University of Toronto, and after graduating he leveraged his background in co-founding a residential real estate startup in 2009.
Hamidi recently spoke with Real Estate News about the adoption of AI in the industry, how technology “reduces the learning curve” for agents, and what agents should do to thrive in the current market.
This interview has been compiled for length and clarity.
Rechat has embraced AI a lot. How did you get started with technology?
For analysis work, I've been using AI in the backend for a long time. We had this incredible tool to figure out who to use AI to market to, but it was by no means a front-end.
We have today, Lucy, she is an agent's assistant. She can perform tasks that take hours for an agent to do. You can ask her to create a website for you…and within a few seconds, it's done. Historically, you'll have to spend thousands of dollars and probably wait a few weeks to do this. Internally, there is a proverb “I went from 90 days to 90 seconds.”
There are several reasons why AI is a great solution and is perfect for real estate. Looking at the days of agents, you need to have buyers, sellers, lists, and create marketing content.
Now, historically, many more successful agents and teams will essentially go out and hire assistants, outsource legwork, and focus on them doing their best.
Well, this is not something that anyone can buy. So, using AI allows you to actually make it available to everyone. Everyone can have this assistant that will help you lift heavy things to things that don't need to be experts.
I think using AI will actually reduce the learning curve and the task of being a great agent and providing a great client experience.
What are the biggest challenges for real estate professionals today?
Well, we are in a very tough market. Historically low inventory, interest rates are sticky and quite high, making it difficult to join this market for the past two years.
There were various things (macro elements) that influenced the life of the agents. And lawsuits are being filed in the industry that affected securities companies. Real estate is always competitive, but I think it's more competitive than ever.
Given these challenges, what advice do you have for your agents?
My advice is to take a step back. The market is not the same as you can earn a living by being in the market or working part-time a few years ago. This has become a very competitive market. You need to be very committed to your profession, you need to be able to deal with it like an expert, you need to be able to invest in it, you have to be involved in it for a long time.
This is no longer something you can do while you're the teacher next to you or have other gigs on the side. This is just what you can do if you consider it a full-time profession. You also need to look at this like a marathon. I can't see the results right away after getting in.
