Something Is Shifting in the Way Buyers Approach Real Estate
I have been in Silicon Valley real estate for over two decades. I have watched the market move through cycles, seen technology reshape how people search for homes, and guided hundreds of clients through one of the most consequential decisions of their lives.
What I am seeing now is new.
Buyers are uploading disclosure packages to AI and asking it whether they should purchase the home. They are using AI summaries in place of careful review. Some are making offers — or walking away — based on what an algorithm told them.
I understand the appeal. Disclosure packets in the Bay Area routinely run 150 to 300 pages of dense legal language, technical reports, and regulatory forms. When you are busy, when you are relocating from across the country, when the market is moving fast — the idea of getting a quick, clear answer from AI is genuinely attractive.
But there is a meaningful gap between what AI can do and what it tells buyers it can do. And in a market where a single decision can have six or seven figures of consequence, that gap matters.
Where AI Is Actually Useful
To be clear: I am not anti-technology. Far from it. AI tools can be genuinely helpful as a first pass through complex documents — flagging items that mention roof age, permit history, or known repairs, translating dense legal language into plain English, or helping a buyer generate a solid list of questions to bring to their agent or inspector.
Used that way, AI saves time and helps buyers show up to conversations better prepared. That is a good thing.
Where It Gets Dangerous
The problem is not what AI reads. It is what AI misses — and what it cannot possibly know.
It Cannot Read Between the Lines
Disclosure packages are not just data. They are documents written by people, sometimes reluctantly, often with legal counsel guiding every word. An experienced agent reads tone. She notices hedging language. She flags what is conspicuously absent. She catches the handwritten addendum that changes everything.
AI reads what is on the page. It does not register what should be there but is not.
It Has No Local Knowledge
A reference to a "minor foundation crack" in a disclosure means something very different on a hillside than it does on a flat lot. Seasonal drainage issues, fire zone overlays, ADU permit complications, neighborhood-specific nuisances — these require someone who knows this market intimately, not a language model trained on the internet.
It Can Be Confidently Wrong
AI does not hedge when it is uncertain. It answers. And when it misreads a document, omits a critical detail, or draws an incorrect conclusion, it does so with the same confident tone it uses when it is right. There is no accountability when that happens. No license on the line. No fiduciary responsibility to you.
75% of homebuyers now assume AI is shaping their home search. But trust in AI to help find a home dropped from 30% to 16% in a single year — even as the technology became more widely used.
Source: Cotality 2026 AI in Housing Report, via HousingWire
It Creates a Privacy Risk Most Buyers Do Not Consider
Disclosure packages contain sensitive information — about the seller, the property's legal history, and sometimes financial details. Uploading those documents to a consumer AI platform raises real questions about data privacy and how that information may be used. Many banks and law firms have already prohibited employees from uploading sensitive documents to public AI tools for exactly this reason.
What a Tenured Agent Brings That AI Cannot Replicate
When I review a disclosure package with a client, I am not just reading. I am drawing on 23 years and hundreds of transactions across Silicon Valley to understand what is normal, what is worth investigating, and what is a genuine reason to pause.
I know which inspectors to trust. I know which types of issues are common in certain neighborhoods and which are red flags. I know how to ask the right questions and what the answers — and non-answers — actually mean.
That is not something a language model can replicate, regardless of how sophisticated it becomes.
A Practical Approach for Today's Buyer
Use AI as a reading tool, not a decision-maker. Let it help you find sections worth discussing — then discuss them with your agent.
Never skip the inspection. AI cannot walk the property, assess deferred maintenance, or evaluate what it cannot see.
Ask your agent to walk you through the disclosures together. That conversation is one of the most valuable parts of the process.
If something in a disclosure raises legal questions, consult a real estate attorney. AI is not licensed to practice law.
Let's Talk
Ready to take a closer look at a property, or just want to understand what a thorough, experienced review of a disclosure package actually involves? Let's talk. There is no obligation, and no pressure. Just an honest conversation with someone who has navigated this market for over two decades.