Scott Gaertner

If you’ve searched for anything online recently—a restaurant, a flight, even a medical question—you’ve probably noticed that search feels different than it did a few years ago. Artificial intelligence is increasingly shaping what information we see first, how it’s summarized, and what gets attention.

Real estate is now part of that shift.

The real issue isn’t technology — it’s whether your home is clearly seen and fairly understood when buyers are forming first impressions.

As a local real estate broker and writer, I’ve always paid attention before things became obvious. We’re at one of those moments now, not because homes have changed, but because the way people search for them has.

A quick word about Zillow—and what this article is not about

Before going further, it’s worth addressing the elephant in the room: Zillow. I’ve been openly critical of Zillow’s automated home valuations for years, and that hasn’t changed. Zestimates often miss condition, upgrades, timing, and neighborhood nuance. Their primary goal is traffic—getting eyeballs not accuracy. Stories of estimates wildly off the market are legendary. 

This article isn’t about pricing accuracy. It’s about visibility and understanding.

How buyers are actually finding homes now

For a long time, buyers found homes by filtering. Price range. Bedrooms. Square footage. That system still exists, but it’s no longer the whole story. Buyers increasingly arrive at listings with summaries already formed—sometimes before they’ve even clicked through. Homes that explain themselves clearly tend to get more attention early, while those that don’t can be overlooked, even if they’re well suited to a buyer’s needs.

We’ve seen this kind of shift before

We’ve seen this type of inflection point before. Eight or nine years ago, after I was exposed to the idea at a real estate seminar in Toronto, we introduced pre-marketing through “Coming Soon” listings in Scottsdale North. Homes that entered the market with context and advance exposure often performed better than those that appeared without warning. That shift ultimately benefited both buyers and sellers. This feels like a similar transition—driven not by a marketing tactic, but by how search engines now interpret and surface information.

Why presentation now carries more weight

The noticeable change is the weight placed on presentation. Photography matters more. Organization matters more. Clear, accurate descriptions matter more. Doing this well means more preparation, additional photography, and more prep time before a home is fully launched online.

 It’s not faster, and it’s not cheaper. It might cost your agent quadruple the money to create your listing, and may have to put up with  3 different photo shoots. But what we’re seeing so far is increased engagement on listings that are built out more thoughtfully. Way More views. Way More saves. And a higher percentage of above list price offers because buyers are showing up better informed.

Why clear language matters more than ever

Another shift worth noting is the importance of language. Vague or flowery,  incomplete descriptions don’t just fail to persuade—they can actively work against your listing. If a home’s advantages aren’t clearly explained, they often don’t get credit at all, and that can cost you money. That’s always been true to some extent, but it’s becoming more pronounced as search tools rely more heavily on interpretation rather than simple filters.

None of this is about chasing the latest technology or endorsing any single platform. It’s about recognizing that the way people search has changed, and real estate is now fully inside that change. Sellers benefit when their homes are presented clearly and accurately, and buyers benefit when they can understand what they’re seeing without guesswork.

What I’ll continue watching locally

As always, I’ll continue testing, measuring, and sharing what I see locally—especially when it affects how homes in our community are discovered, evaluated, and ultimately sold. The tools may change, but the goal hasn’t: making sure a home’s strongest points are clearly seen, so buyers have proper context for the tradeoffs every home has.