Considerations to make as a REALTOR® Message from your 2023 GTR President Jay Quigley

This edition of the Tampa REALTOR® Magazine highlights two very important topics that are must reads: Fair Housing and Technology.

Every April is recognized as Fair Housing Month as we commemorate the passage of the Fair Housing Act. It is the landmark civil rights law signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on April 11, 1968, that made discrimination in housing transactions unlawful.

The purpose of the Fair Housing Act is to ensure that everyone has equal access to housing and that no one is unfairly denied housing or subjected to discriminatory practices. The law makes it illegal to refuse to sell, rent or lease housing to someone because of their race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability or family status. It also prohibits discriminatory advertising and lending practices, such as redlining, which involves denying loans or insurance based on a person's race or the racial composition of a neighborhood.

In November of 2021, the National Association of REALTORS® debuted an interactive training platform called Fairhaven and is designed to help combat discrimination in U.S. real estate markets. It can easily be accessed using technology such as a computer, tablet or smartphone and it is free to real estate professionals. To learn more about this great resource, be sure to turn to page 17 and check out the great article written by our own Susanna Madden (2002 past president).

As quickly as things are changing in our real estate industry, one thing that continues to keep us on our toes is technology. Perhaps one of the most incredible advancements in technology is artificial intelligence and Chat GPT.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has dramatically changed various industries, and the real estate sector is no exception. One of the most recent AI advancements is the Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) language model, with GPT4 being the current state-of-the-art model by OpenAI. Boasting human-like text generation capabilities, GPT can be a powerful tool for real estate professionals looking to transform their business practices with AI.

I wanted to share with you different ways that AI can be used in real estate. But rather than writing the rest of this article from scratch, I used OpenAI’s website and entered the following instruction, “Write an article on how GPT can be used by a REALTOR®”. Below is a snippet of what I got.

1. Automating Content Generation: Creating engaging and informative content is essential for REALTORS® to establish a strong online presence and capture the attention of potential clients. GPT-powered AI can generate written content for blogs, newsletters and social media posts, saving REALTORS® precious time and resources. By inputting keywords, topics or even providing example sentences, GPT can help REALTORS® tailor their content according to current trends and their target audience's interests.

2. Revamping Property Descriptions: Listing properties with compelling and accurate descriptions is vital to attracting potential buyers. REALTORS® can employ GPT to generate creative and unique property descriptions that highlight essential features and make a property stand out in the competitive market. By automating this process, REALTORS® can focus more on providing exceptional service to clients while ensuring high-quality listings across their platforms.

3. Personalizing Email Campaigns: Automated yet personalized email campaigns are essential for maintaining communication with clients and nurturing leads. Utilizing GPT's natural language processing capabilities, REALTORS® can generate tailored and engaging content for email campaigns easier than ever. By automating and personalizing their email marketing efforts, REALTORS® can strengthen their relationship with clients, increase brand engagement and convert more leads into sales.

That portion of my article was generated in about 15 seconds. Impressive, right? More on AI technology can be found on pages 18 – 19

Finally, what do you think of our new brand identity, “Your Future. Our Focus”? What does that mean to YOU? What can YOUR Association do to help you succeed? I’d really love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time, continue to stay engaged at the association and stay tuned for more to come. I look forward to a successful rest of the year.

JAY QUIGLEY 2023 President Greater Tampa REALTORS®