theconnectionsnj.com HOME & DESIGN PAGE 31 rtificial intelligence seems to be everywhere right now. It’s writing articles, creating images, answering questions, and increasingly showing up in real estate websites that promise to estimate the value of your home instantly. Type in your address and within seconds, you’ll see a number that claims to represent what your home is worth. Sounds convincing. But is it accurate? These systems use artificial intelligence and automated valuation models to analyze enormous amounts of data, such as recent sales, tax records, square footage, and neighborhood trends. In many cases, the estimate can be surprisingly close. But sometimes it’s not. The reason is simple: AI can analyze data, but it cannot truly understand a property. It doesn’t know if your kitchen was renovated last year or how your home’s condition truly compares with others in the neighborhood. It doesn’t know which homes back up to privacy and which ones back up to traffic. It doesn’t know if your property sits on the best lot in the neighborhood or if the sunlight pours through your living room every afternoon. Algorithms are very good at measuring information. Real estate, however, is still influenced by something much harder to measure: perception. Two homes with nearly identical statistics can sell for dramatically different prices depending on condition, presentation, timing, and how the property is introduced to the market. Those are factors that technology struggles to capture. Think of online home estimates the same way you might think about an online medical symptom checker. It can give you a general idea, but you probably wouldn’t rely on it for a final diagnosis. The same principle applies to real estate. Technology can provide a starting point, but determining what a home will actually sell for still requires experience, context, and strategy. In higher-end markets especially, small differences in preparation, positioning, and negotiation can translate into tens of thousands-or sometimes hundreds of thousands-of dollars in the end. Many homeowners are surprised when they compare an online estimate with what the market would really pay for their property. Sometimes the numbers are close. Sometimes they’re not. If you’ve ever looked up your home online, the more interesting question may simply be: how accurate is that number today? Artificial intelligence will continue to improve, and it will certainly play a role in the future of real estate. The best professionals embrace these tools and use them to better understand the market. But when it comes to selling a home, there is still one thing technology cannot replace: judgment. And that’s where experience still matters. For homeowners curious about how their property might truly perform in today’s market, not just what an algorithm suggests, a thoughtful conversation and real-world analysis can often reveal a much clearer picture. Contact Ed Nugent at Red Door Real Estate, the local expert you can trust! Email Ed: goreddoor@gmail.com or call him at 732-893-8339. Visit his website for more information: www.goreddoor.com. INSIDEREAL ESTATE AI, Zillow, and the Question Every Homeowner Should Ask By Edward P. Nugent III, Broker/Owner, Red Door Real Estate Two homes with nearly identical statistics can sell for dramatically different prices depending on condition, presentation, timing, and how the property is introduced to the market. Those are factors that technology struggles to capture. A
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