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AI's Impact on Real Estate

[0:00] Wall Street firms just spent $2.3 billion on AI tools to buy homes faster than you can refresh your Zillow's search. Not exaggerating. And what I'm seeing right now is unlike anything I've seen in the last 15 years since I've been helping people relocate to Denver. And in this video, I'm going to break down the three biggest shifts that AI is having on the Denver real estate market. What you can do about it so you're not left homeless. So shift number one, and this is the big one, big money is getting smarter. way smarter. And here's what I mean. So, right now, institutional investors and hedge funds are using AI to scan thousands of properties at a time. What used to take an underwriting team three or four weeks to process the feasibility study, the rent roles, the comps, AI is now literally doing that in minutes. So, how does that actually affect you? Why does it actually matter, Alex? Well, there's platforms right now like Antara is one that I just recently saw that use AI to find offmarket deals, run automated valuations, and even submit offers all completely automatically. There's always been programs that kind of try to help and predict the likelihood of a property selling, you know, based on how long someone's owned the home or equity stakes, things like that. But now, what if you can cross reference things that are beyond the typical like selling flags like going into foreclosure? What if you could cross reference it with garage sales or estate sales or divorce filings or criminal records or court cases? These large companies can comb the entire US. Get really good at figuring out the likelihood that someone is going to need to sell and then before that person even lists their home, they have an offer in hand in front of them.

How Investors Use AI

[1:38] And if it solves that homeowner's problems, we can see a world where much of the inventory never even makes it online, which is kind of creepy. Yeah. Then with the stuff that's on the market that they couldn't just pluck off the shelf before getting listed, what if you're looking for a fixer up or a first-time home? You know, these are the properties that make the most sense for institutional investors to buy as rentals. You find a house on Zillow on Tuesday, you call your agent Wednesday, uh maybe you tour it Thursday, and meanwhile, a hedge funds AI flagged that same property within minutes of going on the market. It ran the numbers. It already decided it's a buy. And by the time it took for you to even see it, this company's already submitted their offer. And that's the speed difference we're talking about, you know. And even the lending side is speeding up. AI powered underwriting is helping lenders close loans in days instead of weeks. So it's not just that these investors can find the deals faster, they can fund them faster, too. The entire process is absolutely going to compress. So what does this mean for you as a buyer? Well, it means that the good deals, the ones that are undermarket value, the ones with upside, those are going to get scooped up faster than ever. You know, not by your neighbor or a friend, by potentially large institutional investors using AI systems that just don't ever sleep. Now, am I saying you can't compete? No. But I am saying the game is changing. And if you like taking a deep dive into the different areas in Denver, just download my relocation guide, right? It's some 90 pages. It's free. It's fun. And you're going to learn a whole lot. Now, that leads into shift number two, which actually might matter even more for Denver specifically, because AI isn't just changing how people buy homes. It's changing who's going to be moving here to buy them. So, here's exactly what's happening. Denver right now ranks eighth among North America's top tech markets.

Speed Advantage in Deals

Denver's AI-Driven Growth

[3:26] The tech workforce here has grown over 12% in just the last 5 years. That's over 129,000 tech professionals now living and working in the metro area. And it's not slowing down by any means. You know, Denver is expected to add nearly 2,800 new tech jobs this year alone in 2026, which is almost a 3% jump after a flat 2025. And a lot of that growth, it's being driven by AI spreading into nontech companies like healthcare, energy, aerospace, finance.

[3:55] And in fact, over half of all AI related job listings in Colorado right now are outside of the traditional tech roles, which is pretty fascinating. You know, that's a pretty big shift. And AI isn't just hiring, you know, coders in Boulder or in the tech center. It's hiring people all across the front range. So, what does that mean for housing? Well, it means more highincome earners moving here looking for homes in very specific areas. And if you know Denver, you already know where this is kind of going, right? The tech workforce has heavy concentrations in AI, cyber security, cloud computing with hubs in both downtown and the tech center. Now, that DTC corridor, Greenwood Village, Centennial, Loan Tree, uh that's kind of going to be ground zero for a lot of this demand here. But right now, DTC is going through a massive transition.

[4:41] There's a huge office vacancy around 20%, which is like 30% better than downtown Denver. Uh but developers are actually tearing down empty office buildings to build apartment units. So, you've got this weird dynamic where commercial side is struggling, but the residential demand in the surrounding neighborhoods is still pretty darn strong. Uh, and we're going to see this entire uh southern part of the Denver metro area with this growth. You know, Sterling Ranch uh and all their new builds down there. You've got Highlands Ranch, Parker, of course, been exploding for years. Uh Castle Rock, which is the fastest growing city in Colorado, are all getting a lot of attention. And a lot of these jobs allow remote workers at least several days of the week. Uh so we're going to see less need to be kind of in the city or close to the city, right? And then you have families relocating from, of course, California, Pacific Northwest, uh that can often buy a comparable or larger home here for less than they pay there. So when you're a tech worker making 150, 180, 200k a year in San Francisco, and you can do that same job remote or hybrid from, let's say, Parker, that's kind of a no-brainer move. And that's why we're getting really attractive to a lot of these companies. Um, and it's not just DTC area. You know, Boulder's medium home price sits around 1.25 million, nearly double the national average, and demand is still really firm there, especially in that 900 to $2.5 million range, believe it or not. You know, and that's not normal buyer demand. That's tech money and a lot of it. It's AI money, uh, high income relocation money.

Income Inequality & Competition

[6:10] And so, here's the picture, right? You've got AI creating jobs not just in Silicon Valley, but here in Denver as well. And those jobs are pulling in buyers who make well above the median income. Buyers who can afford to pay asking price or above it for the right price uh in the right neighborhoods where the average family is already going to be stretched a bit thin. You know, right now buying a home in Denver typically requires a household income around 150,000. That's already tough for a lot of people, you know. um now layer on a wave of AIdriven relocations from higher cost markets and the pressure is only going to go up. So if you're a buyer and you're looking at Centennial, Lone Tree, Parker, Highlands, Ranch, Caspines, uh you're not just competing with your neighbors anymore or family or friends. You might be competing with someone relocating from the Bay Area with a signing bonus and a remote salary. And now here's where it gets interesting because shift number three, it's actually good news for buyers. So hear me out. Um because everything I just told you, right, the algorithms, the speed, the data, that's not only for Wall Street anymore. You have AI, too. I use it daily in my business. Uh here's a perfect example. You know, two weeks ago, Zillow launched something called the Zillow AI mode, right? It lets buyers and renters search for homes through conversation instead of just scrolling and filtering through properties. So, instead of setting your price range, picking three bedrooms, and hoping something good comes up in your area, right now, you can say something like, "Find me similar homes within my budget that are closer to the light rail." Uh, and Zillow's AI will pull that up instantly using real listing data, pricing trends, neighborhood context. You know, it can compare options, highlight trade-offs, estimate renovation costs, interpret price cuts in the context of the local market, and even help you figure out an offer strategy. Kind of wild. And it's not just Zillow, right? Hey, Redfin just launched an app inside of ChatGpt that lets you search listings, explore neighborhoods, and get market insights through regular conversation, right? The whole game is entirely shifting. Buyers can now access tools that improve your negotiating power and reduce the risk of overpaying. Now, here's where I want to get real with you a little bit because AI powered valuation models right now can hit accuracy rates within about 3 to 5% of actual sales price. Okay, that's better than a lot of manual appraisals will do. So, when you're looking at a house in Centennial or a Highlands Ranch, you can know pretty quickly whether that ask price is actually justified or if the seller is just kind of dreamy. It's just one kind of little use case here. Now, you can use AI to forecast which neighborhoods are positioned for growth before prices surge. You can model rental demand. You can predict inventory shifts. That's the same playbook that these institutional buyers are using, but now you have access to it as well. And look, in early testing of Zillow AI mode, uh the most common question buyers are asking are about affordability, neighborhoods, and comparing homes with specific features, right? You know, those are exact questions that used to take weeks of research, you know, multiple conversations with an agent to even start answering. Um, and now you can get them answered at 11:00 at night on your couch. But, and this is the important piece, sorry, AI still isn't going to replace all the agents out there. And I know, of course, I'm an agent. Of course, I would say that. Um, but I I do think it's going to change our landscape pretty heavily. Um, and if you're finding yourself with loads of questions, just call me, text me. Um, I'll help settle your debates at home.

AI Tools for Homebuyers

AI Limitations & Human Value

[9:37] You know, technology doesn't replace human judgment or interaction, uh, local knowledge, personal negotiation. It doesn't tap into what might be an emotional sale for a seller or what type of person the listing agent is and how to best communicate to get the best deals for you. That still does take a human. What it does is it empowers you with better information, you know, so you can walk into the process a little bit more informed. You can ask smarter questions and you can engage with your agent on more equal terms, you know. And that's the key line I want you to take away from this entire video. AI won't replace buyers, but buyers who use AI will outperform buyers who don't. Now, moving to Denver can be a big scary thing, and all of my buyers always want to know about the next best upcoming places that are set to jump in value, which is why I put together this video.

[10:25] Watch it, learn stuff, and ask me questions.