Artificial intelligence is everywhere in real estate conversations — but much of the discussion focuses on future possibilities rather than practical, day-to-day applications.
In a recent Cambridge Finance webinar, Professor Sherry Xu (University of Manchester) shared a grounded, practical view of how AI is already being used in real estate investment and finance workflows — and where its limits still lie. The session focused on separating hype from reality and showing professionals how they can start using AI immediately.
What Makes AI “Useful” in Real Estate?
According to Professor Xu, AI is only genuinely useful today if it meets three criteria:
- It solves a real problem
Useful AI should save meaningful time, reduce costly errors, or uncover insights that would otherwise take hours to find. If it’s just impressive but doesn’t improve workflow, it’s not practical. - It works now
No custom development, specialist consultants, or long IT setup should be required. Professionals should be able to use it and see results within days. - It fits into existing workflows
AI should enhance how teams already work — not force them to rebuild processes from scratch.
With this framework in mind, Professor Xu highlighted three areas where AI already delivers real value.
1. Market Research and Competitive Intelligence
AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity can quickly:
- Analyse large numbers of comparable transactions
- Identify pricing trends or anomalies
- Pull together market insights from multiple sources
- Draft initial investment memo content
Tasks that traditionally require hours of manual data collection and spreadsheet analysis can now be completed in minutes — with professionals then verifying key numbers and sources.
The key takeaway:
AI can get you roughly 80% of the way there in a fraction of the time, allowing you to focus on interpretation and decision-making.
Best practice:
- Be specific about location and property type
- Always request sources
- Verify critical figures before using them in reports
- Refine results through follow-up prompts
2. Document Review and Data Extraction
Another powerful use case is analysing leases, contracts, and due-diligence documents.
AI can:
- Extract key lease terms (break clauses, rent reviews, obligations)
- Compare multiple documents side-by-side
- Summarise long reports
- Flag missing or unusual provisions
What once took 8–10 hours of manual reading can often be reduced to 20–30 minutes of AI-assisted review plus human verification.
However, AI still has important limitations:
- It cannot provide legal advice
- It may miss subtle legal implications
- It cannot confirm whether original document data is correct
- It does not fully understand local regulatory or planning context
The rule of thumb:
Use AI for extraction and organisation — humans for interpretation and decisions.
3. Content Creation and Communication
AI also performs strongly in drafting professional communications, including:
- Property marketing descriptions
- Investor updates
- Emails and proposals
- Market commentary for different audiences
To get high-quality output, Professor Xu recommends a simple formula:
The AI Quality Formula
1. Provide examples
Show the AI two or three examples of your previous work so it can match structure and tone.
2. Give clear instructions
Specify audience, tone, format, and length.
3. Always review and refine
AI produces the first 80%; professionals add judgement, polish, and accuracy.
What AI Still Cannot Do
Despite its strengths, AI is far from replacing real estate professionals.
Today, AI cannot:
- Make investment judgement calls
- Verify facts independently
- Fully understand local market dynamics or politics
- Replace industry relationships and trust
Real estate remains fundamentally a relationship-driven business, and AI functions best as a productivity multiplier — not an autopilot.
Common Mistakes When Using AI
Professor Xu highlighted several pitfalls professionals should avoid:
- Treating AI output as unquestionable fact
- Using vague prompts that produce generic answers
- Expecting perfect results on the first attempt
- Failing to save effective prompts for reuse
- Trying to automate everything at once
Instead, she recommends starting small.
A Simple Plan to Start Using AI Next Week
- Choose one AI tool (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini)
- Pick one repetitive task in your workflow
- Run a test and compare results with your usual approach
- Refine your prompt and save what works
- Measure time saved after a week
Small wins build confidence — and efficiency compounds over time.
Final Thought
AI will not replace real estate professionals.
But as Professor Xu emphasised:
Professionals who know how to use AI effectively will have a clear advantage over those who don’t.
For those looking to build practical skills, Cambridge Finance continues to offer structured training in real estate finance, investment, and applied AI — helping professionals translate emerging technology into real-world results.
