As the adoption of AI rises and its capabilities evolve, real estate agents must improve at articulating their value.
Two widely cited experiences from this spring show why. In March, news outlets detailed how a Florida man sold his home using OpenAI’s ChatGPT for $100,000 more than what agents had previously valued it at. In May, a New York Times technology reporter chronicled his journey doing the same with Google's Gemini. He credited AI with netting him more than $90,000, including the savings he had by not hiring an agent.
Both stories are not that simple.
In the Miami case, the seller sought extensive help from the buyer’s agent, as REALTOR® News previously reported. And, in the reporter's case, he described his FSBO experience as time consuming and emotionally charged: “My mood crashed, and I was suddenly convinced that the house would never sell ... I yearned for some human empathy.”
So, what can good agents and brokers provide that AI can't? Time, clear headedness, connection.
What Real Estate Pros Who Are Therapists Had to Say
Agents often say they wear many hats—including therapist. Jocelyn Vas, with RLAH @Properties in the D.C. region, actually is one. Vas, a licensed clinical professional counselor, has juggled her two callings—real estate and mental health—for 17 years.
"When you're buying or selling a home, you have very little control in that process and a lot of uncertainty, and that's when people feel the most anxious," she says.
Vas's therapy training seeps into sales and appears in how she deflates confrontation and validates emotions. She gave an example of a couple who put an offer on a home that had been languishing on the market. Just after submitting the offer, Vas was told another offer was coming, and her clients began bickering—even doubting whether the listing agent was lying. Her background of counseling couples kicked in.
After validating their feelings, she told them, “What I encourage you both to do is find a balance in understanding. What is the number that, if you lost the home, you would be okay with? That you wouldn't be mad at each other [for] or feel cheated in this? We really just need to be putting our best foot forward.”
When Anam Hargey, a licensed therapist who works as a broker at Real in Chicago, meets her clients, they’re often already experiencing emotional ups and downs. Divorce. Break up. Job promotion. Marriage. Birth.
“These are big life transitions and then you're purchasing your biggest asset that you'll probably ever purchase, and so there's a lot of anxiety surrounding it,” Hargey says.
She relies on her counseling training the most during the inspection contingency period and attorney review, particularly when buyers want to pull out of the deal.
That’s when the agent or broker can step in, she says, “That’s the first thing you say: ‘Hey what's going on? What's the fear? What's the problem?’ So if you're representing the seller, at least you know, ‘Why is this person walking away?’ If you’re representing the buyer, you need to understand what scared them. Is this a realistic fear or doubt, or is this just ChatGPT or someone telling them that this is worse than it is?”
You Don't Need to Be a Therapist to Reduce Stress
While her training is an advantage, Vas says good agents don't need to go through the years of expensive pre-and-post licensing that she went through to relieve clients’ anxieties.
Hargey agrees that while her training has accelerated her real estate success in the seven years since her career pivot, she says top-producing agents naturally have a calming effect and take on clients’ outsourced stress.
“If there's a problem, we're there to find the solution, whether it be house related or not,” she says, recalling a client who hoarded objects.
Hargey and Vas say agents should communicate all this when pitching clients.
“I usually tell people upfront, ‘This will be one of the most emotional experiences you'll ever have,’” Vas says. “‘If there's another offer, we won't know the details, likely ... you could miss out on a home that you think is your dream home, but we're going to figure it out.’”
Using an Emotionless Tool for an Emotional Time
While Hargey believes AI will help agents do their jobs better, she’s not concerned about droves of people dropping agents.
“You've got these brokerages already that are flat fee brokerages,” she said. “You pay them $500 and they take care of all the photos and the lockbox, and you do everything [else] yourself. Why are those not so much more wildly successful?”
She points to AI’s fallibility when it comes to properly valuing renovations and lacking the fundamental pleasure of talking with another human being.
“I think people really seek human connection,” Hargey says.
Vas—who, in addition to being an agent and therapist, is chief knowledge officer at a real estate AI company called Purlin—says she is concerned about the replaceability factor in all industries but largely agrees with Hargey.
The more immediate impact, she predicts, will be pressure on agents to lower their fees as consumers perceive they’re getting less value.
It's another reminder that agents must actively build their skills and clearly articulate what they bring to the table.
