Episode 51: How AI Is Transforming Real Estate for Realtors and Home Buyers

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:29:13
Nate Carver
If you've ever wondered what AI has to do with real estate for realtors and home buyers, you're at the right place. Hey everybody, I'm Nate Carver, your favorite mortgage guy. And today we are talking to my guru when it comes to AI and mortgage lending and how my marketing piece works. Chris Johnstone, CEO of AI connection.

00:00:29:15 - 00:00:48:23
Nate Carver
Hey, I'm Nate Carver and welcome to Between Two Doors.

00:00:49:00 - 00:00:50:16
Nate Carver
Chris, how are you doing, man?

00:00:50:16 - 00:00:52:11
Chris Johnstone
I'm good. Nate, how you doing?

00:00:52:13 - 00:01:14:12
Nate Carver
I'm doing good. I'm doing good. I'm looking forward to introducing the world of real estate. Or realtors, to what you do. You and I, obviously, we talk and we talk and loan officer lingo, and, we're going to try to translate that, for AI and, for real estate and, home buyers, because there's a lot of change coming.

00:01:14:14 - 00:01:35:17
Nate Carver
A lot of things have already changed in, you, in my opinion, and not in my opinion, it's that you're on the front leading tip of the spear on what I is doing in in the real estate for lenders and for realtors and for home buyers. So, tell me, let's jump into a little warm intro of you.

00:01:35:17 - 00:01:42:00
Nate Carver
Tell us a little bit about your background, what makes you tick. And, and then we'll go from, we'll go further.

00:01:42:02 - 00:02:19:05
Chris Johnstone
Yeah, absolutely. So I've been helping generate referral based business in the mortgage and real estate industry for 16 years now, and always with the technology base. So my dad was a mortgage broker. I'm originally from Ontario, Canada. And now my family and I are lucky enough to kind of travel around the world. And we've gone through the evolution of, quite literally, my last year of high school or no, technically, my first year of high school, we took out the typewriters and I helped install the computers into our high school.

00:02:19:07 - 00:02:47:13
Chris Johnstone
And so I've gone through like, oh, the fax machine isn't going to be replaced by email. Oh, my pager isn't going to be replaced by text messaging. Oh, insert in Blockbuster entertainment isn't going to be replaced by Netflix. Kodak cameras aren't going to be replaced by iPhones and watched all of these massive changes and businesses that were at their very peak completely get decimated because they weren't paying attention to the new technology.

00:02:47:13 - 00:03:22:12
Chris Johnstone
And not just the technology, but how the consumer changes their behavior because of the technology. And that's what AI is doing to real estate. That's what AI is doing to mortgage. That's what AI is going to do to every single industry that we know now. Like ChatGPT in their most recent keynote, used real estate as the example for how they feel that their new operator browser is going to disrupt an industry like they picked.

00:03:22:12 - 00:03:47:15
Chris Johnstone
Yeah, our industry is the case study for where disruption is going to happen. That's something where if you're going to be in this business in five years, ten years from now, you have to pay attention. You can't get left behind by this technology. You have to start moving forward. So hopefully in today's episode, I can lay out a framework that real estate agents can use to say, okay, AI is overwhelming.

00:03:47:15 - 00:04:14:18
Chris Johnstone
I don't know where to start. Do these three things and we'll work through that pathway. And just one quick thing. I would like to state I'm the the CEO of Connection Incorporated, which owns the loan officer CRM. So if you go to go to Google and type in Loan Officer, CRM, Loan Officer, CRM, dot AI is our tool that we give to mortgage professionals in order to help them run their business.

00:04:14:21 - 00:04:35:18
Chris Johnstone
It answers the phone, it answers text messages, it answers emails. It creates content posts on social media. The whole thing is powered by AI. So AI is not a buzzword in our organization. We literally use it to run our company and have developed, I believe, one of the greatest solutions for the industry in the mortgage real estate market.

00:04:35:20 - 00:05:06:18
Chris Johnstone
The other two products we don't really talk about, but one is we have professional appointment centers that make phone calls, that book appointments from past customers and setting up relationships between real estate agents and mortgage professionals. And our third product is we work to get ChatGPT to recommend businesses, and we feel that we have a very messy process that is taking our customers from not being recommended by ChatGPT to getting recommended by ChatGPT.

00:05:06:20 - 00:05:15:24
Chris Johnstone
And I know you actually have a story about this. Do you not? I do, yeah. Have you gotten deals from ChatGPT referring to business?

00:05:16:01 - 00:05:53:09
Nate Carver
I have, I got a call from a guy out of North Carolina. Believe me, I don't do any marketing in North Carolina. And. And, he is moving to Texas. He is a veteran, and he's looking for a VA, a construction, a one time close VA loan to do construction. And he goes, hey, can you recommend he goes that GPT can you recommend of an expert veteran loan officer, in this area of North Texas and, and ChatGPT respondents.

00:05:53:09 - 00:06:21:23
Nate Carver
Yeah. You can you talk to Nate Carver? He does violence and he knows he knows what you're looking for as far as construction goes, which I do. And that's how he called me. I was like, oh, this is amazing. This is amazing. So I'm convinced that if you ignore AI as a lender, as a loan officer, and if you ignore it as a realtor, you're really working mass exponentially harder for exponentially less.

00:06:21:23 - 00:06:26:04
Nate Carver
In short, in a short period of time, like the future is today.

00:06:26:06 - 00:06:28:10
Chris Johnstone
Yeah.

00:06:28:12 - 00:06:51:12
Nate Carver
Which is why I have leaned in to what you coached me on and teach in what you use with the AI and do with the AI platform. So, for our realtors, what are you seeing? That's driving realtors to lean into AI right now or hold off on AI.

00:06:51:14 - 00:07:18:15
Chris Johnstone
So two things. The first is the most profitable activity that a real estate agent does. The thing that makes them the most amount of money is picking up the phone. And yet I did a study last year, I think it was I, I lost track, but me and my team, we sat down and we made over a thousand phone calls on listings that were for sale.

00:07:18:17 - 00:07:44:22
Chris Johnstone
And only 17% of the time the phone got answered. And so when you look at picking up your phone, it's the most profitable activity that you can do. And only 17% of the professionals are actually doing it. The number one thing that real estate agents should look at with an implementation of artificial intelligence is making sure that you have a system that's picking up your phone.

00:07:44:24 - 00:08:07:00
Chris Johnstone
I answer to the phone, hey, it's Nate Carver's personal assistant. Nate candidate's phone. I'm an AI. I've got all the answers. How can I help you? It's able to book an appointment on your calendar. If somebody wants to speak with you, it's able to do a real time call transfer. But capture the person's information first so that they get an automatic text message and automatic email following up so they feel like they got great service.

00:08:07:02 - 00:08:40:07
Chris Johnstone
And it gives great answers and great customer support. So just having something that can pick up the phone, capture leads, have a good conversation with people and still your appointment with where your calendar with actual appointments is the most profitable thing they can do. The second thing that real estate agents absolutely need to be doing is figuring out how to get ChatGPT and grok, and perplexity, and Google's AI and all of these other tools to recommend them.

00:08:40:13 - 00:09:11:16
Chris Johnstone
When customers are using AI to search for real estate. So a lot of people in the real estate industry don't yet know that ChatGPT has this thing called a task. So you can just go into a chat with ChatGPT. It's currently 5.1 and you can say, hey, every day at 7 a.m., go out, search this market and find me all the listings that are three bedroom, two bathroom in this area, that are within this proximity of this school zone.

00:09:11:17 - 00:09:32:01
Chris Johnstone
And then give me all of the listings. And then when you find a new listing, deliver it to me. So ChatGPT for free can go search the internet, find all the new listings that match what your customers are looking to buy, and deliver it to them in a text message every single morning, and it's free.

00:09:32:03 - 00:09:34:04
Nate Carver
So wow.

00:09:34:06 - 00:10:03:20
Chris Johnstone
That is where the market's going to go, right? Yeah. You know I mentioned blockbuster and I mentioned Kodak cameras right. Juggernauts of the industry not responding to the fact that the market moves our money. It's going to move. It's quicker, it's easier, it's more convenient. They have full control. Like do you remember Nate when you used to have to call a real estate agent and they had the book with all the listings and it's like, yeah, it's like, okay, let's figure out what listings are not like.

00:10:03:20 - 00:10:12:00
Chris Johnstone
All that information is expected to be delivered instantly without having to go person.

00:10:12:02 - 00:10:36:21
Chris Johnstone
Our consumers are going to use AI to find their house. Then the AI is smart enough to say, would you like an expert in this marketplace to help walk you through this transaction? Would you like to get pre-approved with a lender so that you can make sure that this is a good financial decision for you at this current day life and then the AI makes the recommendation to the real estate agent.

00:10:36:21 - 00:11:01:06
Chris Johnstone
The AI makes the recommendation to the loan officer. AI is not the tool that you use to go get the market. AI is going to get the market. You have to figure out how to get the AI to send the market to you. And that's a great pivot for a lot of people. But you can't fight this change to our art market.

00:11:01:06 - 00:11:20:20
Chris Johnstone
In five years. The majority of home searches are going to start with some AI agent. If you're looking at who the next juggernaut of the real estate mortgage industry is going to be, it's the one that figures out how to get on mass recommendations from AI to that company.

00:11:20:22 - 00:11:52:15
Nate Carver
Yeah, and we have we're already seeing that it's to realtors. You're like, well I want to do this. Well where's your client. Your customer. The home buyer. The shift from using Google because I Google to everything and I still do. I mean, but I also have encyclopedias, you know, so I've made that transition, you know, but more and more, even me, I'm using my chat bot, my ChatGPT to find everything.

00:11:52:15 - 00:12:23:05
Nate Carver
And the consumer's the same way. They're not sticking to the old ways. They're not googling real estate anymore. They're just saying hello, chat. I'm looking for. And that's that shift has happened in a huge like you. You know, I don't put you on the spot on numbers, but I think, you know, you have some statistics on Google versus ChatGPT what it used to be in what it currently is.

00:12:23:07 - 00:12:31:13
Chris Johnstone
So I do, but that's all like the statistics thing. It's like people are making up statistics about oh okay.

00:12:31:13 - 00:12:32:24
Nate Carver
Well you know, the what I.

00:12:32:24 - 00:12:46:08
Chris Johnstone
Do have is I speak probably once a month where an organization pays me to get on a plane, fly out and do a keynote at some conference somewhere.

00:12:46:10 - 00:13:15:03
Chris Johnstone
And I always start by asking, how many of you have done a Google search today? And I've started now to add to that question of how many of you have used ChatGPT today, and it is the fastest adoption of technology that I have ever seen. And I watch Facebook, I watched Instagram, I watched TikTok like all of these incredible launches to market.

00:13:15:05 - 00:13:35:16
Chris Johnstone
I believe that the switch from doing Google searches to using an AI assistant to get your information is going to be the fastest pivot that we see from a market taking technology that we've ever seen. Because I was in a room last month and it was like 100% of the room put up their hand that they were using ChatGPT more than Google at this point.

00:13:35:16 - 00:13:50:03
Chris Johnstone
So I don't know what the stats are, but I know that a room full of 55 year old mortgage lenders, all of them were using ChatGPT instead of Google. That's a pretty good yeah, yeah.

00:13:50:05 - 00:14:25:07
Nate Carver
So in that vein, so when I talk to realtors about AI, I don't tell them it's going to replace them because I, I'm 100% convinced that real estate is relational. Now, we watched a certain company two years ago spend $1 billion to learn that lesson the hard way, and it cost them dearly. So, I'm glad to have watched that from the sideline, but, then, you know, so I'm like, but AI is going to be a wonderful tool.

00:14:25:07 - 00:14:43:21
Nate Carver
It already is a wonderful tool. That Realtors can use as well. I use as a loan officer. So let's, let's shift and talk about what it means to be what you call it. Well, I call it an AI empowered loan officer. What can that be to a realtor?

00:14:43:23 - 00:15:16:06
Chris Johnstone
So and you make an excellent point that real estate agents aren't going to be replaced by AI. But what AI is going to do is the hard work that nobody wants to. Or if we're being completely candid, that nobody does anyway, because people, when they go to buy a house, typically start process 120 days before a real estate agent actually wants to talk to them, if I may, if I'm being candid, like the market research, finding the schools, finding the market finding, you know, what's happening in the market, what am I going to time in during the market and all that stuff.

00:15:16:08 - 00:15:50:01
Chris Johnstone
So you take most leads that happen in the real estate industry, like online leads. They're horrible because all of them are 120 days away from doing something. And most professionals don't have a system in place in order to have that conversation in 120 days, that they actually get the opportunity. Well, now people are just going to go have that conversation with I do all of that research, and when they get to the end where they are ready to talk to somebody, that's when the real estate agent gets recommended and that's where the transaction actually happens.

00:15:50:03 - 00:16:17:16
Chris Johnstone
So in doing that, what we need to do is realize, okay, all of these people want answers to their questions. I can talk to hundreds, if not thousands of people through content rather than 1 to 1 conversations and buying leads and chasing leads. And I can teach the AI that I am the expert in this part of the real estate market.

00:16:17:16 - 00:16:47:01
Chris Johnstone
In this location. By teaching the AI through content creation. And I know that sounds a little bit weird, but becoming an AI powered real estate agent is taking all the questions that you get on social media and in your email, and from customer and sitting down and having a ChatGPT account where your settings are set up properly. I go into ChatGPT, set up your settings and give it all the information about you and your business.

00:16:47:03 - 00:17:09:10
Chris Johnstone
Here's my name, website, phone number, everything about you online. So ChatGPT understands when you're using it to create content and answer questions that you're the expert. It can tie all of the content, the information you produce back to you. And I actually, this is so important. I actually created a free guide on how to do it. It's called our AI 101 course.

00:17:09:12 - 00:17:28:08
Chris Johnstone
Just go to ello AI 101.com. So ello AI 101.com. It's at this point I think it's a 57 page document. Unlike how to get started with AI, copy this prompt, paste it in. It's like a starter guide for how to use AI.

00:17:28:10 - 00:17:29:07
Nate Carver
Right?

00:17:29:08 - 00:17:58:19
Chris Johnstone
So you set up your settings with all your information on it, and then you set ChatGPT once a week to go out and find the most frequently asked questions online that your specific type of customer is asking. You know, go do the research. And once a week you get this blurb from AI that says, hey, this week, here's all the questions that the first time homebuyers ask in this area of Texas.

00:17:58:21 - 00:18:27:17
Chris Johnstone
Yeah. Then you turn on voice mode. You answer all the questions. So you're teaching AI and ChatGPT is learning from you, while at the same time you're producing content that you put on your blog, put on your Facebook, put on your Instagram, shoot a YouTube video about it, and it doesn't happen immediately. But over time, the AI will get that question and go to your website and say, oh, here's the exact question.

00:18:27:19 - 00:18:43:16
Chris Johnstone
Here's a great thought out answer by a thought leader in an expert, and it'll serve your answer back to the person who's doing the research. So you've trained the AI and gone consumer direct at the same time. Does that make sense?

00:18:43:16 - 00:19:09:03
Nate Carver
And it does. I implemented that in what I do as a loan officer. It's something I encourage researchers to do. Also, once it's set up, I actually go and do this daily. I have the task set up for a daily and it scrubs three. I scrub three areas right? I agitate, so I do a scrub Texas, I scrub Florida, and then I scrub VA loans specifically.

00:19:09:05 - 00:19:38:06
Nate Carver
And and it is asking or it's out there looking at the daily what the top three questions are in those three categories for real estate. Yeah. And so I take that and we'll take I'll take that. And you know I create the create the post chat helps me set that up I correct it, I've been doing it for a while and it is crazy how accurate it is to me as a personality.

00:19:38:08 - 00:20:00:07
Nate Carver
Yeah. And in the response that it gives and I'm like, those are those are the words I use. You know, that's how I talk in the idioms and stuff. And so and then I take that and you know, put it in the appropriate places online and and that is, that's given me a presence on, on the chats, chat bots and across social media as well.

00:20:00:07 - 00:20:11:16
Chris Johnstone
And I wonder why you just got an out of state lead on VA that funded. That's right. Yeah. Oh, man. You're doing it. I know, and it's wild.

00:20:11:18 - 00:20:34:03
Nate Carver
I'm going to up that and go. So I did an article on LinkedIn. I do a blog. The next thing for me is to integrate some video content. I mean, I do I've said do a podcast, but to actual do some video content, that is, you know, I will set that up for you and then it just becomes just a matter of discipline and consistency.

00:20:34:06 - 00:20:36:00
Chris Johnstone
Right?

00:20:36:02 - 00:21:04:05
Nate Carver
You know, do it once a week. Do it, you know, once, you know, 15 minutes a day, it's done. And, anyway, yeah, that's pretty cool. That is pretty cool stuff. Let's, let's talk about some some concrete benefits with AI. For real in the real estate world, for agents and buyers. Let's say you did a lot of work around the data base and referral marketing with Lowes.

00:21:04:07 - 00:21:22:09
Nate Carver
Now, when a realtor is looking for a loan officer to partner with and be a real value, add to that realtors business model. What are you seeing loan officers doing that there that Realtors are really liking?

00:21:22:11 - 00:21:47:24
Chris Johnstone
Okay, so calling their past customer database. And I know that this sounds a little bit weird. And this is old school because we're talking about AI. But the way that we do it, it's all AI powered. So here's how it works. So you have a top producing real estate agent that you work with. We have a relationship with that agent where they trust you enough that you can call their past customer database on their behalf because you've got systems, you've got a script.

00:21:47:24 - 00:22:12:02
Chris Johnstone
They approved the script. Rates are so like they're not terrible right now. They have been coming down. There's a conversation in the market, but there's two other factors that are happening right now that are a huge pain point for somebody who has purchased a home from a real estate agent. Number one, home equity values have never been higher.

00:22:12:04 - 00:22:36:17
Chris Johnstone
And number two, consumer debt has never been higher. And so there are people out there that have a 3% rate that are refinancing at today's rate to get rid of consumer debt, to do the renovations on their home that they need so that they can list it, sell it and move to another property. There's no radius amount of value in the database.

00:22:36:19 - 00:23:01:06
Chris Johnstone
And so what we do is we set up inside the loan officer CRM. You load the real estate agents database into the CRM. The lender calls the clients on behalf of the real estate agent and they say, hey, we're friends with insert in real estate agent. We're running a promotion right now to help people through potentially seeing if a refinance makes sense.

00:23:01:08 - 00:23:19:02
Chris Johnstone
And we've got this AI agent where you can just like plug in your numbers. It'll give you all the information. We're happy to send it to you, or we'll hop on a 15 minute call, see if it makes sense. Would you like to go through a free annual mortgage review to see if this makes sense? And most people are like, no thank you, but that's cool.

00:23:19:04 - 00:23:46:22
Chris Johnstone
That's awesome. But some of them are like, yeah, I would. As a matter of fact, we did a test, and we called six databases for a month and we pulled out a grand total of 21 refinances. So we called for 30 days, pulled out 21 refinances, but we also pulled out six purchase deals, because when you call the database and they say, no thank you, but that was awesome.

00:23:46:24 - 00:24:10:07
Chris Johnstone
We have a script that says, well, are you potentially looking to move in the future or do you have any friends, family members of coworkers that are looking to move right now? And it's actually I do insert in referral and that referral goes back to the real estate agent. So most are not calling their database. Many are shocked when they realize how much business can come from that database.

00:24:10:07 - 00:24:33:12
Chris Johnstone
When we call it. And then when you have a relationship with, you know, and you're doing that consistently on a quarterly basis, it's an incredible business driver. Like everybody's focused on new leads when we already have the deals and relationships sitting in the database. Most people aren't taking advantage of anyway. They're free. They're easy to get to. People love hearing from you.

00:24:33:18 - 00:24:56:15
Chris Johnstone
This is a great business. So I apologize. That was a little bit of a long winded answer to unpack that, but there's one little secret sauce that we have to that most people don't pick up phone. So we have actual agents on the phone that make those phone calls. But when people respond back, right. So we make the call.

00:24:56:15 - 00:25:18:17
Chris Johnstone
If they don't pick up, we send them a text message. There's a voicemail that gets dropped, and there's an email that goes in. People respond back through the communication pathway, which they like, which is normally text, and then the eye is waiting for those messages. It gets the text message and it responds back. It has the conversation and puts the appointment.

00:25:18:19 - 00:25:45:12
Chris Johnstone
We're actually booking just as many appointments from the AI automation that happens when people respond back to the phone call, as we are from the actual phone call that's going out. And it's actually like 1 to 1. It's like we book as many appointments from the automations as we do from the actual outbound calls for me. So if I was a real estate agent, I would reach out to you and say, hey, Nate, can you help me with my database marketing?

00:25:45:14 - 00:26:14:10
Nate Carver
Yeah. I tell you that the AI, the AI, CRM that I use, yours, the AI component of it, it helps me. It really structures my day the way I've got it set up that my past clients, my realtors, past clients in with design conversations. It sets those calls. And I know and I always tell my realtor partners, you know, communication is key.

00:26:14:12 - 00:26:56:03
Nate Carver
Your ability and my ability to have multiple touch points with these families throughout a lifetime is what is going to bring back buyers and sellers and in new deals, and increase your, your, your, your income as a realtor in and as a lender. And so, for all the different silos of where the lead is in the process of closing, post closing, looky loos, all of that, birthdays, every bin, it sets every bit of it up so that you can do those touch points for your text messages for an email, and be a phone call and, and face faith for that matter.

00:26:56:03 - 00:27:32:15
Nate Carver
It's all in there. So huge, huge, huge benefit to to a realtor. Let's, let's let's go. I got two more segments with you. So we're almost we're almost done. So with, realtors and home buyers and, and how they're leveraging, I empowered or has empowered, let's see. I mean, scratch that. We're going to just we're going to might go a little modify here, in the editing if I'm a realtor, listening today.

00:27:32:17 - 00:27:33:04
Chris Johnstone
Yeah.

00:27:33:06 - 00:27:43:20
Nate Carver
What questions should I ask a lender to find out if they're genuinely using AI to serve their clients better?

00:27:43:22 - 00:28:28:22
Chris Johnstone
So that what a great question. So how do I put this? It's like. Are you working with a lender that closes on time and communicates weekly with you on the status of your deals? Those are two huge value add pieces that are assisted by and especially the weekly check in. But then it's like communication with your lender, because the number one way where I can make a really big difference is assisting with communication, writing emails and writing text messages and picking up the phone.

00:28:29:03 - 00:28:52:18
Chris Johnstone
That's really where we see there's a lot of cool image tools and video tools, and it can build your website in 30s and all of the stuff. It's really hard to turn that into money, right? But a lender that picks up their phone on time when a lead is sent to them, they have a system that follows up on the lead continuously until they get the application.

00:28:52:18 - 00:29:18:07
Chris Johnstone
And then when they get the application, they follow up every week and they update you on their follow up. That's an AI powered lender, somebody who's using AI to automate a lot of that communication and have a system that holds them accountable to actually doing that activity. Because the way that we make more money is by generating more leads, which is database marketing, right?

00:29:18:09 - 00:29:42:00
Chris Johnstone
And then doing a very good job of turning those applications into funded deals and making that process as smooth as possible for clients so that they refer more clients in the future. So if you're gonna ask a loan officer a question and find out if they're AI powered, ask them if I send you a text message or I send you a customer.

00:29:42:02 - 00:29:53:16
Chris Johnstone
Do you have a system that will pick up a phone on a Saturday afternoon at 7:00? And can you send a AI based emails to people to make sure they get good response? And that's where I would start the conversation.

00:29:53:21 - 00:30:05:01
Nate Carver
Okay, perfect crystal ball time. Looking ahead, three and five years from now, where do you think we're going to be with AI in our industry?

00:30:05:03 - 00:30:51:16
Chris Johnstone
In our industry? I think that artificial intelligence is going to have created a huge gap on those that use it and those that don't. We're fortunate to be in an industry that is relationship based real estate for mortgages. Second, and it's the largest transaction that most people will make. So we're insulated from the I'm just going to click a button and buy it and insert in all kinds of industries that are going to get massively disrupted accountants, lawyers, there's this white collar middle that's just going to have a really interesting time.

00:30:51:18 - 00:31:11:13
Chris Johnstone
And the people that lean in on the AI tools now and learn how to have a system that answers your emails and your text messages for you, how to learn, how to put a prompt together and have a system that picks up your phone. It's like these little tweaks that take a couple of hours to start to learn about.

00:31:11:15 - 00:31:37:04
Chris Johnstone
You get a good vendor that will help you implement those tools, stack those little wins, and then there's somebody that's like, oh, I it's scary. It's going to take over. I'm worried about the Terminator, you know what I mean? Which, you know, whether you are or you're not, there's two choices. There's people that are going to lean in and stub their toe and go through the frustration of implementing tools in their businesses.

00:31:37:04 - 00:32:06:06
Chris Johnstone
And then there's people that are not in three years, the gap between those people that have made those decisions is going to be so big. I don't know that the other side is going to be able to compete, because when you have a customer that calls two different phones and they have an AI powered experience and they have a traditional experience, the AI is going to win every time on customer support, instant communication, the ability to serve that client effectively.

00:32:06:08 - 00:32:43:19
Chris Johnstone
I just think that gap is going to be so big. I will add one other thing to that, Nate, that isn't specifically related to the mortgage and real estate industry. I think that AI has the ability to disrupt the juggernauts that we think are so big that they're just always going to be there. Insert in Kodak and Blockbuster, and I think that Google is at a very critical point in history right now, and they need to do a better job of adapting to what's happening in the market.

00:32:43:21 - 00:33:09:16
Chris Johnstone
And I think Amazon is at massive risk right now. Just a quick little story. So, the other night. So we're here in Costa Rica. Yeah. The other night dishwasher acts up right. So I open up ChatGPT, I turn on voice mode and I turn on the camera. Right. And this is available in the free app. Even though I paid for the paid version, it's available in the free app.

00:33:09:18 - 00:33:29:04
Chris Johnstone
And I go, all right, ChatGPT my dishwasher's acting up. Here's what's happening. He goes, oh, okay, cool. I can see that you've got a insert in name of dishwasher. I don't even know what it is. And it's like, here's the three things that you need to check in this problem. So I checked first thing doesn't fix it to check.

00:33:29:04 - 00:33:43:09
Chris Johnstone
Second thing doesn't fix that. Third thing. There's this little panel in the back and you got to like unscrew it. And there's the thing in there. And I pull it out and I show it to the AI and it's like, oh, yeah, that part's broken. Do you want that part? Yeah, I want that part of me. It's like, okay, great.

00:33:43:10 - 00:33:55:16
Chris Johnstone
Here you go. Boop boop boop boop boop. And it takes me right to the manufacturer's website, right to the page on the website where I can click the button and buy the part.

00:33:55:18 - 00:34:30:18
Chris Johnstone
Every single person that uses AI to solve a problem is going to be served a product through AI, where they can buy it. And if Amazon isn't that link insert company, that is is going to disrupt a massive industry. It's the largest e-commerce opportunity that we're going to see in our lifetime. Yeah, I has the answers and whatever product they associate to that answer is going to be a game changer.

00:34:30:20 - 00:34:38:19
Chris Johnstone
And so be the real estate agent that has the answers to the questions that your customers are asking.

00:34:38:21 - 00:34:57:18
Nate Carver
You, sir, tell me, a realtor, a realtor today. Yeah. What is something? If they reached out to a loan officer such as myself that uses AI, what is something that that loan officer officer could do for them immediately this week?

00:34:57:20 - 00:35:24:10
Chris Johnstone
Yep. An AI voice powered number for their listings. So we have inside the loan officer CRM and, a listing prompt so you can buy a phone number. Nate, there are $2 inside the system. You go in, you buy a phone number, and it's only for that specific listing. And you take the hottest listing that that real estate office or agent has.

00:35:24:12 - 00:35:48:06
Chris Johnstone
And that phone number goes up on the sign rider with a QR code where people can scan and it calls the phone number or the phone number and just says AI virtual tour. When people call that phone number, AI picks up the phone. Hey, welcome to one, two, three Main Street. It's a beautiful listing. I'll walk you through some of the details, interrupt me at any time with any questions that you have.

00:35:48:06 - 00:36:03:00
Chris Johnstone
Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with? My name is Bob. Hey, Bob. Do you want me to send you the listing details via text? Yes I do, is this phone number good? Yes it is. Okay, great. And if I can't send you the text, what's your email? Here's my email. Okay. Great. Got it. I'll send you that information.

00:36:03:02 - 00:36:05:16
Chris Johnstone
We just collected the lead.

00:36:05:18 - 00:36:06:11
Nate Carver
Off big.

00:36:06:16 - 00:36:40:19
Chris Johnstone
The sign call and it's an it's it can happen at midnight and it happens the same. Right. And then that prompt it actually goes out gets all the information on that listing, has it inside the prompt. And that I can answer any question that that person can throw at that listing. Well, same time you get a notification that lead came in, real estate agent gets the notification, that lead came in and they go into a system where there's follow up text messages, follow up emails, follow up voicemails that go to that person, be like, hey, what do you think?

00:36:40:21 - 00:37:01:02
Chris Johnstone
Would you like to get pre-qualified to find out what price range you should be shopping? You get them pre-qualified, send it back to the real estate agent. Doesn't matter what house they sell them, but you collect the lead from the listing, you get them pre-qualified, and they end up buying a home with the real estate agent that served that lead into the system from the same.

00:37:01:04 - 00:37:24:13
Nate Carver
It's amazing. Look right there. You've answered number numerous questions that realtors ask me as a lender. You know, what can you do for me for referrals? Yep. That's a big one. How do you help me generate referrals? Is or usually like, can you give me any referrals? Right. So I can do better. I can generate in from the very moment.

00:37:24:13 - 00:37:53:04
Nate Carver
It's so right with the the sign writers. That's one of them. I always get asked communication is the big one. And I know in my in, in the lending industry and it's true of the real estate industry, people don't follow up and it's, you know, how can I make that even easier to do so that the phone doesn't become too heavy?

00:37:53:06 - 00:38:14:16
Nate Carver
Yeah. Leaning into I simple a simple thing is not having to make the dial, you know, dial, you know, punch in ten digits on a phone. It's all queued up and just you just start and it just goes, I can guarantee a referral out of that process. I know there's referrals there in, in, in those touchpoints and building those relationships.

00:38:14:16 - 00:38:37:17
Nate Carver
So that's, that's I for me. And that's what it is to my realtor partners is communication. And, you know, my goal and everything that I do is a lender is to help my real estate agent partners make even more money, each month. And I go, okay, how do I do that? Well, I've leaned into I in the communication piece.

00:38:37:17 - 00:39:06:10
Nate Carver
I, we didn't talk about it at all on this one. And this has nothing to do with you, but, you know, my listing capability and turning all of their listings into TV commercials through a platform called move to my podcast. Everything I do has an AI component that is designed to get that realtor exposed to GPT, to the chat bots, and with unique content that those chats are looking back at them as well.

00:39:06:10 - 00:39:28:03
Nate Carver
Oh, you need to talk to this realtor in this market that you're interested in moving into. So kudos to you for being at the very front of this. Couple of last questions for you. I know we went long on this, but I want to do some fun stuff. Yeah, I know you. I just want to make sure other people get to know a little bit more about you.

00:39:28:09 - 00:39:34:11
Nate Carver
What is one favorite geeky, geeky, personal thing you like? Dealing with AI outside of work?

00:39:34:13 - 00:39:59:15
Chris Johnstone
Yeah. So I have, prompt where every morning I get a, a devotion to do with my children. And then I also have a quick little 15 minute activity. So one of the things that my wife and I really leaned in on early when we were young parents, is, what we call mind body and soul time.

00:39:59:17 - 00:40:16:13
Chris Johnstone
And it's like 15 minutes a day. Each of our children gets one on one time with us. And we're not perfect. We don't do it every day. But like, that's our goal for what we strive for. And so every morning when I wake up, I have my fitness routine, which is already all laid out by AI, tells me exactly what to do.

00:40:16:13 - 00:40:30:16
Chris Johnstone
So I wake up. Don't have to think about it. It's like right there and I just do it. And then I have the devotions with my children. And so it gives me a little game to play, or a talking point or a cool activity that I can do with my kids, every single day. So I don't have to think about it.

00:40:30:16 - 00:40:36:18
Chris Johnstone
It's just like, if I've got 15 minutes, I know exactly what to do with that time.

00:40:36:20 - 00:40:40:02
Nate Carver
Right now. You're originally from Canada?

00:40:40:04 - 00:40:41:01
Chris Johnstone
Yes.

00:40:41:03 - 00:40:46:24
Nate Carver
Still home is Canada, but you're in Puerto Rico. Why are you in Puerto Rico? What is it I do?

00:40:47:01 - 00:41:15:21
Chris Johnstone
I'm in Costa Rica. We just. Rica. Yeah, it's even nicer. I just kidding, I was just kidding. But, so we're. So our kids are in school here. We are, probably spend, the majority of our time here. So, when I met my wife, I had just gotten back from, trip to the Philippines. She had just got back from a trip from Costa Rica, actually.

00:41:15:23 - 00:41:35:09
Chris Johnstone
And the night that we met, I said, okay, this is probably going to be it, but we have to agree that we're never going to winter in Canada because I'm done with winters in Canada, and we've been together now for 13 years, and there has only been one year where we have actually had to winter in Canada.

00:41:35:09 - 00:41:50:06
Chris Johnstone
So we've been able to take our kids all over the world for, you know, a month here or two months here or three months here and, show them the world and stay away from the snow. So that's a little something about me. Nice. Yeah.

00:41:50:08 - 00:41:56:12
Nate Carver
And last summer, y'all, your family went and did, a water mission.

00:41:56:14 - 00:41:57:17
Chris Johnstone
In.

00:41:57:19 - 00:42:11:13
Nate Carver
In Africa, digging wells and, just absolutely love that you did that. That's on my bucket list. Of things I definitely want to be a part of, in my future. Anything I should have asked you that I didn't ask.

00:42:11:15 - 00:42:29:15
Chris Johnstone
No, I think that a. Nate, you are amazing. And thank you for what you do. Not only, as an individual because you're an incredible person, but also for our industry. You know, the real estate agents that get to work with you are blessed. And I'm blessed to know you as a friend. And, and thank you for having me on the show.

00:42:29:17 - 00:42:52:12
Nate Carver
There you go. Thank you. Chris. There you go, folks. That's, it's going to wrap up a final another episode, not the final, but, another episode of Between Two Doors. Real estate agents. If you're looking for a loan officer that, is leaned into the eye. And to help you make even more money each month, I would love to talk to you.

00:42:52:14 - 00:43:10:19
Nate Carver
In the states that I'm licensed in or introduce you to somebody that, in the States that I'm not licensed in, I can help you get to what you're looking for. Links down below. I'm going to put, all of our contact information. If anyone wants to reach out to, Chris's team as well. And, thank you.

00:43:10:19 - 00:43:21:24
Nate Carver
Thank you so much, for doing this, Chris. It was an absolute pleasure. And, you know, every time I constantly, constantly learning. So. Good stuff.

00:43:22:01 - 00:43:36:03
Chris Johnstone
Right on. Well, Nate, thanks for having me on the show, everybody. Thanks, person. And I'll see you on the next one.

00:43:36:05 - 00:43:38:04
Unknown