179 Ways AI

What if you could harness dozens of hours each month without cutting a single corner in your client service? For real estate professionals, this is fast becoming a new reality as AI transforms the way agents manage their daily workflow.

It all starts with one surprising number: 179.

AI versus the checklist: What can be automated today

NAR’s widely circulated list of 179 tasks that a REALTOR® may perform during a transaction is a powerful reminder of how comprehensive – and often irreplaceable – an agent’s role really is.

But when you look at this list through the lens of today’s technology, and in particular Generative AI and Agentic AI, the landscape starts to shift.

I asked ChatGPT to carefully review NAR’s list of 179 tasks and identify which ones can be fully automated or meaningfully accelerated using readily available AI tools.

According to ChatGPT, 110 of those 179 tasks – over 60% – can now be done by AI.

The Gen AI advantage: The content creation speed demon

Generative AI, like ChatGPT and other LLM-based tools, can help streamline over 65 tasks on the list, ChatGPT claims.

We agree from our own experience that ChatGPT Teams excels at creating written content, summarizing complex inputs, analyzing large document files, and organizing data into practical formats.

Let’s get specific: Gen AI-powered tasks from the NAR task list:

  • #5–6, #8: Drafting CMAs and summarizing market activity
  • #16, #34–36: Creating marketing plans, listing presentations, and explaining contracts
  • #59–61: Summarizing amenities, inclusions, and repair lists
  • #82, #86–87, #91: Generating ad copy, mail-merge letters, and brochures
  • #104, #118, #154, #166: Creating weekly market studies, offer summaries, completion logs, and closing figure reviews

These aren’t “someday” use cases but are happening now. Agents who embrace Gen AI are reducing turnaround time on marketing, improving the clarity of their communications, and elevating the professionalism of every single client touchpoint.

Agentic AI: Letting smart systems do the heavy lifting

While Generative AI creates content or analyzes information to assist you, Agentic AI acts on your behalf. Taking automation a step further, Agentic AI uses goal-directed intelligence to act for you.

These tools can handle tasks that used to require manual coordination across platforms: think CRM updates, appointment scheduling, calendar syncing, and follow-up reminder emails.

According to ChatGPT, over 50 tasks from the list fall into this category.

Agentic AI automations are already happening:

  • #1–2: Confirming appointments via SMS/email
  • #22, #32, #44: Auto-populating CRM records and setting showings
  • #75–81: Uploading data to transaction management and other platforms
  • #100–106: Scheduling ad submissions and sending reports to clients
  • #127–128, #140–143, #171–174: Automating deal status changes, loan tracking, and closing coordination

Today, agents can connect their CRM to a tool like Fyxer, Zapier, or RealScout, so once a showing is logged, a feedback email is automatically triggered and sent to the buyer’s agent within 24 hours.

Important distinction: Agentic AI tools don’t replace the agent. They function more like an invisible assistant, helping agents stay on top of everything while reducing their daily workload.

What still requires the human touch?

Tasks such as document drafting, data entry, appointment scheduling, and marketing are among the most adaptable to today’s AI.

But not everything can be delegated to AI, and it shouldn’t be!

Negotiation skills, local expertise, deep local knowledge, and client care still require an agent’s touch.

Buying or selling a home is one of the most emotionally charged life events that requires a fellow human with empathy and emotional awareness to navigate correctly. You can’t lean on the shoulder of an AI bot!

ChatGPT says that some 70 of the 179 tasks on the NAR list still depend on a real human.

Tasks that remain agent-driven:

  • #17, #24, #27–29: Pricing strategies and in-person property assessments
  • #33, #45, #50–54: Screening qualified buyers and helping sellers understand utilities or zoning
  • #111, #150, #155: Explaining offer terms, overseeing repairs, disputing appraisal values
  • #172: Managing a “no surprises” closing

Agents should embrace these tasks as this is where they shine – and why a bot will never replace agents.

Helped by AI, yes. Replaced by AI, no.

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