Artificial intelligence opens up new horizons and prospects for development. But, apart from a few pioneers, real estate companies are struggling to get hold of it. The sector has always been resistant to new technologies.

A lot of paperwork and data to deal with, endless phone calls and meetings, the obligation to respond quickly to customers… unless you take the risk of seeing them go to the competition. In absolute terms, real estate companies have everything to gain from using artificial intelligence. The result: better customer relations thanks to more rigorous management of processes and needs, far fewer tedious tasks in positions where it becomes very difficult to recruit and, in the end, increased productivity. This is confirmed by a study published in November 2023 by McKinsey, which points to “an increase in net operating income of more than 10%, or even more”.

Some companies have understood the magnitude of the stakes. This is the case of the online broker Pretto. AI is present throughout the chain: making appointments with customers, managing 1.2 million documents received every year, selecting the banks most likely to accept a file according to the customer’s profile as well as the best rates recently granted by them, summaries of all telephone and email exchanges between the broker and the customer in order to find more easily the information they receive. information, etc. In the event of a loan refusal, there is no curt response! A real plus in customer relations, according to the company’s co-founder, Renaud Pestre. “We explain why the project is not feasible and we propose concrete solutions that would allow him to get a loan.” All of this is still generated by AI.

Sergic also converted to the tool at the beginning of the year, for property management activities. While managers are often overwhelmed by the hundred or so emails from co-owners they can receive every day, the company now offers them the opportunity to use Copilot. This software analyzes all the emails received 24 hours a day, prioritizes them according to the degree of urgency of the problem to be dealt with and/or the level of dissatisfaction of the co-owner, prepares draft responses, alerts on emails that remain overdue, etc.

Rather than spending hours trying to find a resolution voted on at the general meeting, the minutes are swept away in just a few minutes. The result is a significant time saving and a more peaceful relationship with the co-owner who is waiting for information and reaction. “At Sergic, we believe that there must be a response to the worst within 48 hours. A property manager who takes a week or 10 days to respond is very problematic,” says Stéphanie Titeca, a property manager in Lille, while congratulating herself on the time saved thanks to AI.

For these companies, there is little doubt about the advantages of artificial intelligence. But many of their competitors are dragging their feet, seeing this new technology more as a luxury than as a must. However, real estate is one of the activities that “contributes the most to the drop in apparent French labour productivity compared to the pre-Covid trend”, according to a recent note from the National Productivity Council.

A sector resistant to new technologies

“Unfortunately, AI is not used much. The sector has always been slow to integrate new technologies,” worries Victoria Safar, the founder of Ventureo Academy, a company that supports companies in their transformation. Stéphane Scarella, managing director of the Rent real estate show, a subsidiary of the Figaro Group, is a little more optimistic. “We are behind the curve, but there is an awareness that it is essential to turn to this tool. Customers who use it more and more will not understand that the companies they turn to do not use it,” explains this specialist in new technologies who has decided to make AI the central theme of the next edition of Rent. The pressure also comes from within. “Some employees are already using AI, with the risk of not knowing where the data is going for their company,” says Corentin Brabant, Innovation Director at Sergic. This company has countered the problem by jumping on the bandwagon of the great artificial intelligence revolution without delay.

Le Figaro