Whether you’ve excitedly played around with ChatGPT, or you’ve avoided artificial intelligence, quietly preparing for the droid apocalypse—AI is coming, and coming fast. Bill Gates’ famous 1996 quote about the pace of technology is very relevant here: “We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next 10. Don’t let yourself be lulled into inaction.”
AI will first step into those roles that can be most easily automated or that are admin-related. For investors, this is a boon when it comes to property management, as so many of our tasks fall into this repetitive, follow-up-intensive category.
Related: Why AI Is About to Make Real Estate Investing Even Easier
Here are four ways AI is already on the property management scene.
1. Smart Home Automation
This is the 101 of AI and something you may already be using in your rental units (and in your own home). From thermostats that “learn” your tenants’ schedules and set the temperature accordingly to deadbolts that automatically lock when the door is closed (and then can be opened by a thumbprint in person or your app remotely), these kinds of easy home automations can save you all kinds of money and effort.
2. Chatbots
Giving your tenants access to an always-available AI chatbot means you can take an enormous load off your live team (or yourself).
Imagine a tenant with a leaky faucet. They flag this with the maintenance chatbot. The chatbot responds immediately, letting the tenant know exactly when to expect a maintenance call and the name of the handyman they should expect. Cue a very relaxed tenant.
Even better, the chatbot, understanding the issue perfectly, can say something like, “Don’t want to wait? Want to try to address yourself?” and then serve up a video on how to tighten things up so the faucet no longer leaks.
Obviously, there are some repairs you don’t want your tenants…
