Why Owning Your AI Unlocks Bigger Financial and Strategic Advantages

If your brokerage or Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is exploring generative AI (GenAI), there’s a good chance you can reduce your development costs with federal and state R&D tax credits, sometimes by a significant margin. These credits apply not only to Silicon Valley startups but also to real estate enterprises building their own AI infrastructure, tools, and applications.

At Fluente, our core philosophy is clear: Brokers and MLSs should own their AI, not rent it.

When you rent AI through a vendor, you’re putting your data (and your competitive advantage) into someone else’s ecosystem. When you own your AI, hosted in your secure private cloud, you control your models, your prompts, your integrations, and your future. And now, the IRS and most states will reward you for making that investment in innovation.

What Qualifies for the R&D Tax Credit?

The Federal R&D Tax Credit, claimed using IRS Form 6765, rewards companies for investing in activities that advance or improve technology through experimentation. For AI initiatives, qualifying activities often include:

  • Developing new AI models or fine-tuning existing ones for your specific brokerage or MLS workflows.
  • Building integrations between your AI environment and your MLS, CRM, marketing platforms, or transaction management systems.
  • Creating new data pipelines to unify siloed systems into your private AI environment.
  • Designing AI-powered tools for property search, agent productivity, client engagement, compliance, or analytics.
  • Testing and iterating on different AI architectures or prompt engineering strategies to achieve better performance.

Expenses that may qualify:

  • Salaries and wages for employees working on AI development.
  • Contractor or consultant fees (including strategic partners like Fluente).
  • Cloud computing and hosting costs directly tied to AI R&D.
  • Materials and supplies used in development or testing.

Don’t Forget About State Credits

Many states have their own R&D credit programs that can be claimed in addition to the federal credit.

For example, California Form 3523 offers substantial credits for qualified research performed in the state. Similar programs exist in Texas, New York, Florida, and others, each with their own rules.

Path to success wtih new technology implementation concept. Vector of a robot hand drawing a graph line leading to the goal.

Why This Matters for Brokers and MLSs Now

We’re seeing a wave of brokers and MLSs moving fast to develop their AI strategy; this is not just to cut costs but to future-proof their operations. By structuring your AI investment as owned infrastructure in a private cloud, you get:

  1. Full control over your data: no vendor replication or third-party exposure.
  2. Long-term cost efficiency: reduce or eliminate “AI rent” payments to vendors.
  3. Custom fit: AI that understands your workflows, your data, and your business model.
  4. Eligibility for tax credits: potential to substantially offset your development spend.

A Practical Tip: Go Back and Tag Your AI Expenses

If you’ve already been working on AI projects, go into your accounting system and move those expenses into a dedicated account labeled “R&D – AI.” This will make it far easier for your CPA or tax preparer to claim credits when filing. Many companies miss out on credits simply because their expenses weren’t categorized clearly.

If you haven’t started yet, this is the perfect time to design your AI strategy and deployment plan with tax credit eligibility in mind. The earlier you structure it, the bigger the savings.

R&D Credit Quick Reference

(Save or bookmark this for your CFO or CPA)

Type Form Link
Federal R&D Credit IRS Form 6765 – Credit for Increasing Research Activities IRS Form 6765 (PDF)
California R&D Credit California Form 3523 – Research Credit CA Form 3523 (PDF)
Texas R&D Credit Texas R&D Credit Application (via Franchise Tax Report) Texas R&D Credit Info
New York R&D Credit NYS R&D Credit Application NY R&D Credit Info
Florida R&D Credit Florida Corporate Income Tax Credit for R&D Florida R&D Credit Info

Next Step

If you’re a broker or MLS ready to own your AI and take advantage of the financial incentives available, contact Fluente. We’ll help you design a private AI environment that:

  • Keep your data secure and in your control.
  • Delivers measurable business value.
  • Maximizes your eligibility for federal and state R&D tax credits.

The AI revolution in real estate is here. Make sure you own it… and get paid for building it. Visit WAV Group’s AI Division website, Fluente.com, to book a demo. Or fill out the form below!

 

Hire WAV Group

  • Please select a service.
  • How can we help you?