Given the rapid pace of AI evolution, most everyone is in catch-up mode. But there’s no time like the present to get started.
“AI technology will continue to improve, so it’s important to pay attention and get in the habit of integrating these game-changing tools into your business,” says Carter Malloy, CEO at Acres.com, a land intelligence platform, recalling the maxim that it’s not AI that will take your job, but the person who knows how to use it.
Commercial real estate specialists risk losing opportunities to competitors by spending valuable time on time-consuming—albeit necessary—administrative tasks.
“While you may still be debating whether AI matters, someone in your market has already made that decision,” Malloy told participants during a recent REALTORS® Land Institute–hosted webinar on how top professionals use AI to accelerate their business.
Specifically in the land sales sector, leaders are turning to AI for support on tasks such as survey, plat and environmental reports; easement and access route mapping; zoning, floodplain, wetland or infrastructure overlays; and reconciling conflicting parcel data from different sources.
“Land experts don’t lose deals because they don’t know enough; they lose them because they can’t move fast enough,” he says. “Time gets eaten up by administrative work, while competitors use AI to respond faster and analyze more deals.”
Use AI as Leverage
Use AI to leverage opportunities, not to replace human expertise and insight. “Treat AI as a junior assistant supporting your day-to-day workflows,” Malloy says.
For example, large language models like ChatGPT are trained on vast amounts of text to understand and produce human-like responses. These tools can synthesize complex information and compress hours of work into minutes, freeing brokers to focus on strategy, relationships, negotiations and transaction execution.
Simple uses of AI include writing listings, automating social media posts, creating videos from static photos, identifying one-sided terms or missing provisions in contracts (flagging them for legal review), and building simple applications, such as a competitor listing tracker that updates daily.
More complex tasks involve summarizing complex data to identify environmental risks and mapping easements to understand how they affect land use, value and development. AI can also reveal meaningful connections across a portfolio, such as maturing loans, out-of-state owners, LLC consolidations and other linkages that empower brokers to pursue opportunities competitors may not yet have identified. Similarly, AI can enable faster identification of market movements and pricing trends.
Prompts: Garbage In, Garbage Out
Harkening back to the early days of data processing, the “garbage in, garbage out” adage still applies. AI output quality depends entirely on the prompt provided. “Stop treating AI like Google, which is fine for answering a question, but not digesting and analyzing complex information,” Malloy says.
To achieve the best output, be explicit about the desired outcomes, the end-user audience, the preferred tone (formal, business, consultative, marketing, etc.) and any constraints. Constraints may be set for style—for example, asking it to use short to medium sentences, no “fluff,” and avoid unnecessary repetition of acreage, location and features; or for content, like asking it to remove legal advice, to assume facts are in supporting documents, or to include relevancy if citing state law.
“Writing good prompts takes practice, and you’ll likely need to go back and forth several times to focus your inquiry,” Malloy says.
For those struggling to write a prompt, Malloy suggests using AI to write it for you. “Tell it what you’re trying to get done,” he says. “These tools are good at asking clarifying questions and determining what details matter, ultimately helping you frame the request.”
Limitations, Risks and Ethics of AI
Current AI tools might struggle to understand the constraints of a physical environment, such as steep slopes that might limit a buildable area, irregular terrain that would increase worksite costs, or grade changes that affect visibility. “AI doesn’t see the geospatial context the way a human does,” Malloy says.
He also stresses that AI can’t replace local market judgment. “Never blindly trust AI; always verify the information it provides, as all platforms still hallucinate more than they should.”
As true when working in any real estate sector, land specialists must focus on ethics and data security when using AI. “Ask AI tool vendors about compliance and security,” Malloy says. “Paramount is to ask if they use client data to train the large language model. The only acceptable answer is ‘no.’”
Malloy also advises asking vendors to document their compliance with the terms of use regarding data ownership. AI-generated analytics significantly magnify the value of listing data, provided it is accurate, complete and up to date. Understanding how vendors use your data is vital to reducing legal and reputational risk.
Malloy is transparent and direct with his clients about his use of AI, noting that most businesspeople are excited about its possibilities. “Use the conversation as an opportunity to talk about the care you take with listing data and the marketing advantages it provides,” he says.
