Douglas Elliman Bets Big on Visual AI Property Search
I wasn’t expecting much when Douglas Elliman invited me to their Manhattan office to pitch their new AI-powered property search feature on their website. I knew they would offer me expensive coffee, pastries with names I can’t pronounce and a cookie-cutter spiel on why typing into a ChatGPT-style AI search box is somehow “the future of home search.” I was wrong. Dead wrong.
Elliman’s new AI home search feature, Elliman Inspirations, offers its well-heeled clientele a genuinely novel way to find their dream home. Instead of typing into a search box or chatting with AI, users can now upload pictures of home features they love – an Art Deco fireplace, a kidney-shaped pool — and Elliman’s AI tool scours their listings for matching properties. Users can then create collections of homes on Elliman’s website to share with their spouses, friends, and, you guessed it, their Elliman agent. It’s like an AI-powered Pinterest for real estate.
I know what you’re thinking. Zillow has had a ChatGPT-style search on its app for months now — an eternity in proptech. Here’s why I believe AI-powered image search and property curation just might be the future of property search for brokerages.
Why ChatGPT-style search falls flat for luxury real estate: The salon problem
Don’t get me wrong; Zillow’s ChatGPT-style search is a near miracle of technology that helps people find what they want faster. There’s just one problem. As any competent agent will tell you, most people don’t really know what they want until they see it.
Think about the last time you got a haircut. Did you walk in and tell your stylist, “I want a bob with 1.2-inch bangs in ash blonde number 33?” Of course not. While this might be exactly what you wanted, chances are you brought them a picture of your perfect cut instead of trying to describe it. If you’re making a significant change, odds are that you have dozens of photos of haircuts on your phone, and you’ve scrolled through hundreds more to find them.
The same is true for luxury real estate. Who doesn’t have at least a dozen homes favorited on Zillow or a Pinterest board filled with mansions and bespoke interior design? I know I do. And I’m not even in the market for a new home. Buyers share “vision boards” of their dream homes with their agents all the time.
AI image search not only solves this problem, it makes searching for a home fun.
Why AI image search is better — and just might be the future of home search for brokerage websites
Elliman’s new AI-powered image search allows buyers to discover and curate homes on the brokerage’s website instead of on Pinterest or Zillow. As social media and AI continue to dominate in the attention economy, brokerages must get creative to capture buyers before they start seriously looking for homes. Inspirations does just that. It gives buyers a place to daydream.
It’s also a genuinely helpful tool for Elliman’s ultra-picky target demographic around the globe— buyers who collect mansions the way some people collect shoes. Unlike most buyers, they know exactly what they want: architecturally significant homes, beachfront spreads with the right ocean view or sprawling equestrian properties with chestnut trees instead of oaks. Inspirations allows these discerning buyers to indulge their rarified tastes 24 hours a day without being forced to call an Elliman agent.
The appeal extends beyond buyers’ deep pockets looking for nine-figure equestrian properties with the right kinds of trees. Instead of scrolling on Zillow to daydream about luxury homes, the general public will soon be able to head to Elliman’s website to build their own obsessively curated inspiration board of luxury homes.
Journalists and influencers might soon head to Elliman’s website to find and curate the types of homes that go viral on social media: private islands, starchitect-designed houses or homes with 70s-style conversation pits. They’re all just an image search away.
Elliman’s luxe lifestyle content also gets an upgrade
Along with the new AI search and curation features, the company also launched World of Elliman, the brokerage’s new digital lifestyle publication. An online-only version of Elliman Magazine, World of Elliman entices even more ultra-high and high-net-worth buyers early in their home search journey to spend time on Elliman’s website.
The full picture
AI is fueling competition for page views between Zillow and elite luxury brokerages like Elliman and Compass. It’s not a zero-sum game, but giving buyers (and the general public) a place to daydream about luxury real estate might help Elliman claw back some of its audience from Zillow.
