Natural language search has been a topic of interest to everyone operating a home search portal since Onboard Informatics launched their effort back in 2001. In truth, Onboard was targeting the information that consumers care about – which was not in the MLS record; such as neighborhood and school data. 

Two remarkable technologies using artificial intelligence have emerged over the past few years that have enabled a massive advancement in consumer home search. First is computer vision. Computer vision is a field of artificial intelligence that enables computers to interpret and understand visual information from the world, such as reading the listing photos and videos in such a way similar to human vision. If you want a house with features that can only be known from looking at images – like white counters or stainless appliances – the new search from Howard Hanna can do that. The second part is the Large Language Model (LLM). LLM is an advanced artificial intelligence system trained on vast amounts of property data to understand human-like language.

Howard Hanna Real Estate Services announced today their deployment of ListAssist’s AI HomeSearch on top of Constellation1 – their website provider’s home search technology. This is revolutionary technology aimed at transforming the way buyers search for properties by emphasizing precision and personalization. ​ 

HowardHanna.com now allows home buyers to articulate their ideal home using natural language in the search bar on the website. ​This innovative tool utilizes advanced natural language processing and computer vision to understand detailed requests and provide personalized results, with match scores for each listing. ​

Howard Hanna home search was developed in partnership with ListAssist, an AI real estate business based in Auckland, New Zealand. ​ListAssist specializes in providing AI solutions to over 40,000 real estate agents and has established HomeSearch partnerships with leading teams and brokerages in the United States. ​The collaboration between ListAssist and Howard Hanna, the largest independently-owned real estate brokerage in America, signifies an important step towards enhancing the home buying experience for customers and agents alike. ​

The integration of ListAssist HomeSearch on Howard Hanna’s website is a strategic move to offer clients a more efficient and tailored property search process. By enabling potential homebuyers to narrow down their search to the most relevant listings, ListAssist HomeSearch aims to simplify the decision-making process and expedite the home buying journey. ​

Howard “Hoby” Hanna, the CEO of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, expressed the company’s commitment to innovation that enhances the client experience. ​He highlighted ListAssist HomeSearch as a game-changer for both clients and agents; it facilitates faster and more targeted property searches for customers, while empowering agents to better serve their clients with highly specific listings. ​This cutting-edge technology aligns with Howard Hanna’s dedication to integrating intuitive and user-friendly solutions that cater to the evolving needs of today’s real estate market. ​

ListAssist HomeSearch represents a significant advancement in the real estate industry, offering a more personalized and efficient way for buyers to find their dream homes. ​The collaboration between ListAssist and Howard Hanna underscores a shared commitment to leveraging technology to improve the home buying experience, ultimately benefiting both clients and agents in the real estate market.

HowardHanna.com is among the most highly trafficked websites within the core markets they serve. Historically, they have been ranked as high (or higher) than portals like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com and Redfin in their primary market cities. Those portals have struggled to get natural language search to market. (Follow this link if you’d like to read about Zillow’s struggle.) It’s great to see a broker get there first.

“Instead of waiting for AI solutions or AI features to get launched by technology providers in the real estate space, firms should be doing immediate research on the AI tools available now. Existing tools can interact with their existing systems to do more with what they already have. By doing so, firms don’t need to change systems which is costly and time consuming and they will truly differentiate themselves in their market. They will see immediate benefits from increased productivity.” — Michael Minard, CEO/Owner, Delta Media Group, Inc. and Housingwire Trendsetter

Last week, Lundy announced a similar AI launch on the MLS consumer facing website of Metrolist.com, serving the greater Sacramento area of California. Lundy does with voice, what ListAssist does for text. Generally, consumers type when they are on a computer, and will speak or (talk-to-text) when on their phone.

If you need support taking your consumer search to the next level, send us a message! Our knowledge and relationships can get you there faster, with fewer mistakes.

Want to read more that we’ve written on Natural Language Search? – CLICK HERE. 

Join us for a webinar on November 20th, 2024 @ 10am PST / 1pm EST to find out “How Howard Hanna is Beating Zillow with AI Search”

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Press release follows.

Howard Hanna Introduces Groundbreaking ListAssist HomeSearch – A Smarter Way to Find Your Dream Home

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Sept. 30, 2024 – Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, the largest independently-owned real estate brokerage in America, is proud to announce the integration of ListAssist HomeSearch, a cutting-edge technology set to redefine the way buyers search for properties by focusing on precision and personalization.

With ListAssist HomeSearch, users can now simply describe their dream home using natural language in the search bar of HowardHanna.com. Whether it’s a ‘spacious kitchen with natural light’ or a ‘big backyard with a pool in a quiet neighborhood,’ ListAssist uses sophisticated natural language processing and computer vision to comprehend these detailed requests and deliver personalized results with match scores for each listing.

ListAssist Founder & CEO Chris McGoldrick said, “Customers deserve to be matched with homes that have exactly what they’re looking for, and agents deserve to have lead information that is actually useful to them. Our team is incredibly proud of our partnership with Howard Hanna, one of the most reputable businesses in U.S. real estate. They have been fantastic to work with and we look forward to providing a market leading experience through the Howard Hanna website.”

This new tool is designed to help potential homebuyers refine their search to only the most relevant properties, thereby streamlining the decision-making process. It also ensures agents are provided with much more detailed leads; they know exactly what their customers are looking for. It is part of Howard Hanna’s ongoing effort to integrate intuitive and user-friendly technology solutions that meet the evolving needs of today’s real estate market.

“Howard Hanna is committed to innovation that enhances the client experience,” said Howard “Hoby” Hanna, CEO, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. “ListAssist HomeSearch is a game-changer for our clients and our agents. It allows our customers to find their perfect home faster and with less effort, while enabling our agents to better serve their clients with highly targeted listings.”

ListAssist HomeSearch is now available on Howard Hanna’s website, HowardHanna.com. For more information about ListAssist HomeSearch, please visit listassist.ai/real-estate.

About Howard Hanna: The Hanna Family of Companies proudly provide real estate, title, insurance and mortgage services to clients across 13 states. As the largest family owned and -operated real estate brokerage in the United States, this full-service real estate company has more than 500 offices and 15,000 sales associates and staff, including many of the industry’s top-producing real estate, title, mortgage and insurance agents. For more information, visit HowardHanna.com.

About ListAssist: ListAssist is an AI real estate business which launched in Auckland, New Zealand in 2022. They provide a range of AI solutions to more than 40,000 real estate agents, and have HomeSearch partnerships with some of America’s top teams and brokerages. For more information, visit ListAssist.ai