Should You Use ChatGPT to Help With Your House Hunt?

Imagine this scenario: You're looking for a three-bedroom home in the suburbs of your favorite city with a price range of $350,000 to $400,000. Energy-efficient appliances would be nice (but not a deal breaker if it doesn't have them) and you would love to be within a 15-minute drive of a grocery store, ideally Costco. Instead of searching Zillow and Redfin, you type these details into ChatGPT, and the AI machine brings up three properties instantly that are exactly what you want and gives you a good estimate of how much you should bid.

Sounds nice, doesn't it? Well, unfortunately, ChatGPT isn't that advanced. Currently, the chat AI's data goes up to September 2021, which means it doesn't know which properties are on the market today. It can't perform a comparative market analysis (CMA) to help you figure out an offering price, and it most certainly can't guarantee accurate knowledge on today's real estate markets.

But use of ChatGPT is growing. In fact, according to The Ascent's research on ChatGPT, around 28% of Americans are willing to use generative-AI to assist in the home-buying process. So while it can't replace a real estate agent yet, here are some ways ChatGPT can help you hunt for a house.

Get basic information on a neighborhood

If you have a specific neighborhood in mind, ChatGPT can offer some basic facts, such as amenities, crime rates, walking score, local attractions, demographics, and the types of houses typically found there (such as single-family homes, condos, and townhouses).

For example, I typed in my neighborhood in Portland, the Pearl District, and it was fairly accurate. It gave details on our parks, mentioned the First Thursday Art Walk, and touched on our blend of industrial warehouses and modern apartment buildings.

To be sure, the information wasn't comprehensive enough to give me a full picture of what's in the Pearl District (it didn't even mention Powell's!). But as a starting point, it can accumulate data quickly and give you some facts to research if you want more depth.

Find your "ideal" place to live

ChatGPT doesn't have real-time data and can't tell you what's selling on the market now. But if you're a free bird and not tied to one place, ChatGPT could help you find a city that combines all of your interests.

I recently tried this for myself. I gave ChatGPT the following five criteria and asked it to pick a city for me:

• A vibrant literary community
• Cultural diversity
• Proximity to the ocean
• Renowned for its good food
• Isn't San Francisco (no offense!)

ChatGPT told me I should live in Seattle, Washington. This isn't far from where I actually live and has been a city I've considered. In fact, when I asked ChatGPT to give me another city that isn't Seattle, it recommended my city, Portland.

But I've also played around with it and found other cities I might be interested in. For instance, when I changed out "proximity to ocean" with "proximity to Trader Joe's" and "Isn't San Francisco" with "walking distance to daycares," I got Cambridge, Massachusetts. I had never considered Cambridge, but after looking at it closer online, I could see myself living there.

Should you use ChatGPT to house hunt?

At this point in time, I wouldn't depend on ChatGPT to help you find a house. Even the basic information it provides on home buying -- such as getting a mortgage loan -- isn't always accurate and may not reflect current regulations. It cannot replace a real estate agent and should be used as a supplement to deepen your understanding, but not your primary source for finding a house to buy. It's super exciting -- and I've had fun with it -- but it's far from being reliable and comprehensive for house hunting.