Barry Plant is about to launch its AI-bot called Grace.

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Artificial Intelligence will soon be powering one Aussie real estate agency, from liaising with prospective homebuyers and tenants to writing listing descriptions.

Barry Plant announced at a technology conference last week that an AI-bot and property assistant called Grace would soon be the first point of call for those that virtually interacted with the agency. It’s expected to launch on their website in October.

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Barry Plant chief technology officer Darren McCoy said Grace could analyse a home’s historical data, floor plans, the medium price of the residences in its area, nearby sales and comparable properties to create a listing description.

Mr McCoy said Grace was responsive “24/7” and on demand, and would be in the background of every Barry Plant listing online ready to answer inquiries.

He forecast that the real estate industry was moving towards using AI bots to call prospective buyers or renters to receive feedback about their experience inspecting a property.

However, he said the agency wasn’t rushing their adoption of AI into their business and remained “cautious”.

“We want to impact the industry, we want to get the first market advantage, but our end goal is to create a better customer experience,” Mr McCoy said.

“We want to elevate the reputation of the real estate agencies, so we’re not going to do anything to compromise that.”

Ms Jennison said the speed of AI adoption was leading more buyers to believe buying a home sight unseen was no longer risky.

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But the Real Estate Buyers Agent Association of Australia (REBAA) has warned that although the industry welcomed AI’s many advancements, it could never replace a physical property inspection.

REBAA president Melinda Jennison said the speed of AI adoption over recent years was leading more buyers to believe that buying sight unseen was no longer risky.

“A physical inspection will always remain the gold standard for thorough due diligence before making an offer on a property,” she said.

Ms Jennison said while sleek video walk-throughs and aerial flyovers offered buyers greater visibility of a property than ever before, they could never convey the depth of information gained from a physical inspection.

She added that neighbourhood dynamics, nearby nuisances like disruptive noises or unpleasant odours couldn’t be revealed via video.

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