November 2025 - Nuggets - Staying Ahead Of The Curve

Back in 1970, a man named Alvin Toffler wrote a book called Future Shock. In that book, he described future shock as “the dizzying disorientation brought about by the premature arrival of the future.” What he was saying was that things were going to move so fast and change at such a dizzying pace that you would be hard-pressed to keep up. Talk about vision. And I’m not sure even Mr Toffler, 55 years ago, would have believed how fast change would be taking place in 2025. That change has affected almost every aspect of life, and it has undoubtedly affected the real estate industry. In the period of time since Mr. Toffler wrote his book, we have gone from writing offers by hand on the hood of a car and instructing our clients to “press hard, there are six copies,” to emailing documents for e-signature, from driving from neighbourhood to neighbourhood to inspect houses, to sitting in front of a computer and taking a virtual tour. With the addition of AI, an agent can now write an eye-catching ad, stage and rearrange a house's look, and show consumers what it would look like with a bit of imagination. And speaking of AI, I’ll have our assistant manager, David Quirk, outline a very significant development he has spearheaded right here at RE/MAX Garden City. In June, I decided to dive into the world of technology and figure out how all this new AI stuff works. I kept hearing about how automation could simplify our lives in real estate, but I wanted to see for myself what a working realtor (someone like me) could actually achieve with it. So, I started coding. At first, I focused on smaller tasks, little things that could help me with my job daily. But then I really got into it, learning how to create and leverage AI. I discovered how to build systems that could quickly find information, craft useful messages, and connect tools using platforms like n8n, Zapier, webhooks, and APIs. I even picked up some basics of programming languages, including Python, C++, HTML, JSON, and a bit about OCR. It was eye-opening to see how so much of the internet operates today. Once I felt comfortable with the basics, I decided to take things up a notch. With a special license for my virtual brokerage, I could access the MLS (like the core database for real estate), and I started creating tools to streamline realtors' everyday tasks. One of my first creations was a price evaluator that lets agents text an address and receive a complete market analysis (CMA) by email in seconds, no complicated forms or websites required; just text and it’s done. After that, I developed tools that could automatically read and fill out forms, generate legal clauses using AI, and even automate sending guides and signatures. All of these tools came together as part of a system I named ‘AI Agent’, a website which realtors can access to make their work a bit easier. I rolled the program out here in our Training Centre and walked our agents through the process. They were impressed and engaged and have provided valuable input to help fine-tune the programs. For agents at RE/MAX Garden City, it’s completely free to use. My main goal with ‘AI Agent’ isn’t to sell software; it’s to provide agents with tools crafted by someone who really gets the challenges we face in real estate. Throughout this whole journey, my motto has been: “Don’t fix the user. Fix the tool.” Technology should make our lives easier, not more complicated. ‘AI Agent’ is my way of ensuring that as technology evolves, we’re not just keeping up; we’re at the forefront of the change!