I saw a story in The Philadelphia Inquirer that provides a pretty good example of how artificial intelligence can—and can’t—help with a housing search.
JoAnne Kim, 64, and her husband were living in Mexico and planning a move to the Philadelphia area.
Instead of beginning with a traditional apartment-search website, Kim opened ChatGPT.
But what she asked is the interesting part.
She didn’t simply ask:
“Where should I live?”
She described the kind of life they wanted.
They were looking for a place that was quiet, walkable and dog friendly, with good public transportation, restaurants and cafés, a sense of community and things to do.
ChatGPT suggested Ardmore, Bryn Mawr and Chestnut Hill.
The couple ultimately chose Ardmore and moved there this month.
AI helped narrow the search
This is where I think AI can be genuinely useful.
A traditional real estate or apartment search often starts with property characteristics:
How many bedrooms?
How many bathrooms?
What’s your price range?
How large is the property?
Those things obviously matter.
But they’re not the whole housing decision.
Kim started with something different:
What do we want our everyday life to look like?
That’s a useful question whether you’re renting, buying, downsizing or considering a later-life move.
Try describing the life before describing the house
If you’re considering a move, you could start by telling an AI tool things such as:
- What you enjoy doing
- Whether you want to walk places
- How important public transportation is
- Whether you want restaurants and shops nearby
- Whether you have pets
- How much driving you want to do
- What type of housing you’re considering
- What you want to be closer to
- What you want to be farther away from
Then ask it to help you identify questions and possibilities.
You may discover options you hadn’t considered.
But don’t let AI make the decision
This is the other important part of the Inquirer story.
Kim didn’t simply accept ChatGPT’s answer and move.
She kept researching.
She watched local real estate videos.
She read reviews.
She watched local news.
She talked with property managers.
She gathered information from different sources before making the decision.
That’s exactly the distinction I would make.
AI can help you narrow the search. It shouldn’t make the housing decision for you.
Verify what AI tells you
Artificial intelligence can provide incorrect or outdated information.
A neighborhood changes.
Apartment availability changes.
Prices change.
Transportation changes.
Businesses close and open.
Rules and programs change.
And some things aren’t data questions at all.
AI can’t tell you how you’re going to feel walking around an area.
It can’t experience your commute.
It can’t decide whether a particular house or apartment feels right to you.
So verify the important information.
Visit when possible.
Talk to people.
Use reliable current sources.
AI and real estate professionals don’t have to compete
I’m a Realtor®, and I’m perfectly comfortable telling people to use AI.
I use it myself.
The technology can make consumers better prepared.
If you’ve already thought carefully about how you want to live, researched possibilities and developed good questions, we can have a much more useful conversation about your actual options.
That’s a benefit.
The question isn’t:
Should I use AI or a real estate professional?
Use the tools that help.
Just give each one the right job.
AI can help you research, organize and identify possibilities.
People can help you evaluate the actual places, verify important information and work through the real-world decision.
The Inquirer story is a good example of both working together.
The technology helped narrow the possibilities.
The people still made the decision.
I’m Jess Carpenter, Realtor® with Elfant Wissahickon Realtors, serving Philadelphia, Montgomery County and Bucks County.
Understand your options before making your decision.
SOURCE:
Michaelle Bond, The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 27, 2026: “How ChatGPT helped persuade one couple to move to Ardmore from Mexico.”