AI slop is not just in images and videos. I see it in so many property descriptions it literally makes me sick. When I first fed a property description into AI a while back to try to spice it up, I thought it was kind of cool. I was excited about the possibilities. I used some helpful phrases and word choices to improve my description. AI uses technics that I now incorporate in my descriptions which I feel definitely make my listings more appealing. I’m careful not to overdo it.
These days, I don’t consult AI anymore when I’m making my descriptions because I’ve learned what I need from it. AI spits out the same slop on every listing. These descriptions are just way too flowery, and too many Realtors are using virtually every chunk of recommended slop. It makes it seem like the description writers are on ecstasy. That’s a problem.
Early on in my real estate career I remember writing a glowing description of a property I had put on the market. My seller loved it. It was really good, but it was a work of fiction. The listing got plenty of attention, but when buyers walked through, they were generally let down because the property really wasn’t as advertised. I sold the house, and I always wondered what would have happened if I had been more real with my description? Would I have gotten more offers and sold it sooner? Setting proper expectations is important when marketing houses.
There is a time and place for everything. I think that houses on the higher end of the market benefit the most from the slop. Sometimes you are selling an illusion which becomes real. Perception is reality as the psychology goes. That’s okay. What’s not okay is presenting every house as if it’s God’s gift to the real estate market. Just today I was looking at a listing with misleading phrase, ‘tons of upgrades’, which included laminate flooring, and new appliances in a kitchen that was otherwise entirely original. Classic NAA (Not As Advertised).
We are only at the beginning of the AI revolution. It’s ubiquitous. Call me old fashioned. Hell, call me old because after all, I’ve been selling real estate for 22 years, before the first iPhone was introduced. I don’t mind being the ‘get off my lawn’ old codger. When it comes to marketing properties, at least I’m still using my mind or at least what’s left of it. The more we lean on AI, the less we think. The less we think, the closer we come to being an Idiocracy.