Is AI Worth the Money in Real Estate Investing?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries at a rapid pace, and real estate investing is no exception. As someone who’s journeyed from a 13-year police officer and military member to a seasoned real estate entrepreneur managing over 50 rental doors and 104 flips, I’ve seen firsthand how AI can revolutionize the way we approach property management, deal analysis, marketing, and much more. Over the past 6 to 10 months, AI capabilities have doubled, and today I want to share with you why investing in AI tools is not just a luxury but a necessity for serious real estate investors.

From Enlisted to Entrepreneur: My Real Estate Journey

Before diving into AI, a little background. I’m Bud Evans—a former police officer, military enlisted member turned officer, and now a real estate investor and entrepreneur. I hold a master’s degree in Business Administration from Penn State, along with degrees in finance, contracts management, and even munition systems technology (yes, technically a rocket scientist!). Despite this, I didn’t truly understand money or investing until I read Rich Dad Poor Dad in 2018. That book sparked my real estate journey.

Starting in late 2018, I purchased my first flip and two rental properties. Within two years, I expanded to 21 doors, completed over 30 flips, and engaged in 11 wholesales. Today, my portfolio includes over 50 doors, more than 100 flips, syndication deals, and multiple businesses including property management and even a hair salon.

Why AI? Simplifying Real Estate Investing and Management

One of the biggest challenges in real estate investment is efficiency. How do you stop being busy and start being productive? The answer lies in the 80/20 rule: 20% of your activities generate 80% of your wealth, while the other 80% can—and should—be delegated or automated. Enter AI.

AI tools can handle the repetitive, time-consuming tasks that bog you down. From responding to emails and managing tenant communication, to analyzing deals and marketing properties, AI can save you hours of work each week. This isn’t about replacing human judgment but enhancing your decision-making with data-driven insights and automation.

Enhancing Decision-Making with AI

If you’re a real estate investor flipping houses, wholesaling, or developing ground-up construction, AI can help you think outside the box and create business plans tailored to your personality and goals. For instance, by feeding AI your personality profile (like DISC or Myers-Briggs), you can receive customized advice and step-by-step operational plans that align with your leadership style—whether you’re a directive “high D” or a methodical integrator.

AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Jasper can analyze your business data and provide actionable recommendations. For example, you can input purchase costs, rehab budgets, holding costs, and desired profit margins, and AI will generate your maximum allowable offer more accurately than the traditional 70% rule, often beating competitors by thousands.

Remote Work and Virtual Assistance

One of my favorite AI tools is Fixer AI, which acts like a virtual assistant that reads your emails, understands your tone, and drafts responses in your voice. For $50 a month, it can save you three to five hours per week by managing your inbox, filtering spam, and even crafting follow-up messages. You can customize its personality—from formal and educational to humorous or cocky—so your communication feels authentic.

Imagine not having to sift through countless emails or spend time drafting responses. Fixer AI does the heavy lifting, freeing you to focus on high-impact activities.

AI in Property Management: The Future is Here

Managing properties is a 24/7 job, but AI is changing that. My property management company, Second Street Property Management, uses an AI program that answers calls after hours, sounding so human that even our staff can’t tell the difference. This AI assistant handles emergency calls, schedules maintenance, and interacts with tenants professionally and cordially—saving us countless hours and providing consistent service.

Additionally, AI tools like CRA AI offer a suite of “assistants” that help with social media posts, business planning, email management, marketing, and financial analysis. These assistants learn from your daily inputs and adjust their recommendations, helping you automate repetitive tasks and stay organized.

Tenant Screening and Lease Management with AI

Tenant screening is another area where AI shines. Traditionally, you’d manually review credit scores, bank statements, W-2s, and criminal history. Now, I’ve created custom AI models that analyze all this data in seconds, scoring applicants on risk and recommending whether to approve or decline them.

For example, AI can flag a tenant with a felony on their record or a low credit score instantly, allowing you to send automated adverse action notices without lifting a finger. This speeds up the leasing process, reduces errors, and improves compliance.

AI also helps with lease drafting and adaptation. I took my New Jersey lease, along with multiple addendums, and used ChatGPT to rewrite them for Ohio and Pennsylvania, adjusting for local laws. This saved me hundreds of dollars in legal fees, with only minor attorney review needed to finalize the documents.

Marketing and Content Creation: Automate and Scale Your Reach

Marketing properties and growing your brand can be a full-time job, but AI tools streamline this too. For example, I use a system where every YouTube video I publish is automatically converted into a search engine optimized blog post, email newsletter, and multiple social media posts using API integrations between platforms like Video to Blog and Wix.

This automation helped me grow my YouTube channel from under 200 to over 3,300 followers organically in just a few months. Instead of manually creating content for each platform, AI handles the heavy lifting, letting me focus on creating quality videos and engaging with my audience.

Social Media Scheduling and AI Assistants

AI assistants like CRA AI provide ready-made social media posts, titles, hooks, and even AI-generated images tailored to your niche and location. You can program these posts to publish automatically across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, maintaining a consistent online presence without the headache.

Real Estate Analysis and Deal Evaluation at Lightning Speed

Speed is everything in real estate investing. AI tools can analyze wholesaler deal sheets or rental property data in seconds, telling you whether to pursue a lead or pass. By inputting your investment criteria, AI quickly evaluates the deal’s viability, freeing you from endless manual calculations.

Commercial real estate investors can use institutional-grade AI platforms that analyze financials, owner statements, and market data to give insights into net operating income, cash-on-cash return, and property performance. This level of analysis previously required expensive consultants or hours of spreadsheet work but now is accessible instantly.

Custom AI Models and the Future of Real Estate Investing

Some innovative investors are creating their own AI “GPTs” trained on specific datasets like tenant credit profiles or local market conditions. These custom models help make consistent, data-backed decisions and scale operations efficiently.

Balancing Automation: Avoiding the Pitfalls

While AI is powerful, it’s not infallible. Garbage in, garbage out still applies. Feeding incorrect data or relying blindly on AI can lead to mistakes or “hallucinations” where AI makes up false information. Always verify AI outputs and keep human oversight in the loop.

Over-automation can also be dangerous. If you let AI completely control your schedule, communication, or business processes without checks, you risk losing control and making costly errors. AI should be a tool that supports you, not replaces your judgment.

How to Get Started with AI in Real Estate Investing

1. Start Small:

   Begin with affordable tools like ChatGPT’s paid version or Fixer AI to automate routine tasks like email responses or tenant screening.

2. Create a Business Plan:

   Use AI to help draft or refine your real estate business plan, tailoring it to your personality and goals.

3. Automate Marketing:

   Use AI to generate and schedule social media content, blogs, and newsletters to grow your audience and attract leads.

4. Leverage AI for Deal Analysis:

   Input your investment criteria into AI tools to quickly evaluate deals and improve your decision-making speed.

5. Use AI for Property Management:

   Implement AI-powered virtual assistants to handle tenant communications, maintenance requests, and after-hours calls.

6. Verify and Oversee:

   Always double-check AI outputs and maintain human control over critical decisions to avoid costly errors.

Final Thoughts: AI as a Game Changer in Real Estate

AI is no longer a futuristic concept—it's here, and it’s changing the way real estate investors operate. From saving time and money to improving decision-making and scaling your business, AI tools offer tremendous value. Whether it’s automating tenant screening, drafting leases, managing social media, or analyzing deals, AI can handle the heavy lifting so you can focus on the 20% of activities that truly grow your wealth.

Remember, AI is an algorithm—not a human brain. It learns from the data you provide and the inputs it receives. The better your data, the better your results. But always verify, stay in control, and blend AI with your expertise to maximize success.

For investors ready to embrace the future, AI isn’t just worth the money—it’s a critical investment in your productivity, profitability, and peace of mind.

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I post real estate investment videos weekly!