How to Respond When Your Seller Says, “I Asked AI”

More and more often, our agents are sitting down at a kitchen table to talk about listing a home and finding that the seller has already settled on an asking price.

Sometimes they’ve decided how long they’re willing to list for, too.

When we ask how they came to those decisions, we’re hearing a new answer.

“I asked AI.”

Now, I love AI. I use it all the time and find it incredibly helpful. But these conversations remind me of something I learned in my high school computer science class.

Garbage in, garbage out.

At the time, I just thought it was a funny expression. Now I think about it whenever someone shows me an AI answer. I want to know two things.

1. What did you ask it?
2. What information did it have to work with?

The questions matter.

Say I ask AI, “Is my house worth $900,000?” I’ve already put a number on the table.

If the tool searches the web, it might come back with a house down the street listed at $899,900. That feels reassuring, especially if $900,000 is the number I was hoping for.

But what did that house actually sell for? Did it sell at all?

Now try asking,

“Based on recent sales you can verify, what price range would you estimate for a three-bedroom three bath bungalow in Essex with a fully finished basement and 2 car garage? Show me which homes you compared it to and what they sold for. If you don’t have enough verified sales, say so. ”

That gives you something concrete to walk through with your sellers.

Say AI picked a three-bedroom bungalow a block away. Pull up the sale and show them how it compares to their home.  Maybe that one had an unfinished basement and no garage, and needs some work. Then pull up what’s for sale right now and ask,

“If you were a buyer, and looking at this house what else would you go see this weekend?”

Recent sales help explain your price recommendation.

The homes buyers can tour this weekend show your sellers what they’ll be competing with when they list.

How long you list matters.

When a seller comes to the table with an AI recommendation to list for 30 days, I’d ask what they want those 30 days to accomplish. Sometimes the real question is,

“How quickly can you sell my house?”

That’s a fair question.

I’d take the same approach when a seller says AI told them to list for 30 days. Ask what they’re hoping will happen in those 30 days.

If they’re worried about how long it’ll take to sell, talk about what you’re seeing with similar homes.

If they want to know how soon you’ll change course if the plan isn’t working, agree on a date to review it together.

There’s a nice bonus to handling it this way. Your sellers get to see how you work before they’ve even signed. You take their price and 30-day question seriously, explain why you’re recommending a different term, and agree on when you’ll check in to see how things are going. They also see that you’re comfortable working through an AI answer with them when it helps them make a decision.

Final Thought

Getting to the kitchen table is hard enough. Then you sit down and hear,

“AI says my house is worth $900,000, and I should only list for 30 days.”

I get why that can be frustrating. But before you get into a debate about the price or the listing term, ask one simple question.

“What did you ask it?”

If they asked whether their home was worth $900,000, that number was already in the question.

If they asked what similar homes sold for, now you’ve got something you can check together.

And if AI suggested 30 days, find out what the seller wants those 30 days to accomplish.

Then do what you’ve always done.

Show them what buyers are comparing their home to, explain why you’re recommending that price and listing term, and agree on when you’ll sit down again.

You’ve had these conversations before. The seller just brought a different kind of homework this time.

Len Filiault
Broker of Record
c: 519.890.5045
e: len.filiault@century21.ca

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