SINGAPORE – Your next property agent might not be human.
On Feb 5, local property portal Mogul.sg rolled out an artificial intelligence (AI) agent that trawls more than 100,000 home listings on major housing sites like 99.co and PropertyGuru so it can make a recommendation to those looking for their ideal home.
Maia (Mogul’s Artificial Intelligence Agent), as the AI bot is called, is the first of its kind in Singapore.
It contacts property agents on messaging platform WhatsApp to arrange viewings on behalf of potential homebuyers, acting like an agent.
But that is one agent that will not earn thousands of dollars in commission fees.
Acting like the buyer’s agent, Mogul.sg’s share of the commission is just 0.2 per cent, as opposed to the typical 1 per cent in co-broking arrangements today.
The new feature could address longstanding complaints about seller’s agents acting selfishly to keep all the 2 per cent commission paid by the property seller.
Homebuyers today face a messy process in searching for a new home, having to track listings manually or make multiple calls to seller’s agents to fix viewing appointments, said chief executive Gerald Sim, who founded Mogul.sg in 2018.
Agents on the buyer’s and seller’s sides often agree to split the two per cent commission fee for homes sold, a fee that could grow as each side pushes for a higher cut, he said.
“We’re on the cusp of a revolution in property buying, much like the travel industry’s evolution from phone bookings to travel agents and AI-powered aggregators,” said Mr Sim, who held a showcase for the media in an office space at The Centrepoint in Somerset on Feb 5.
Mr Sim said: “Nowadays, you either pay an agent or do the hard work yourself. So, we’ve tried to build this app with the buyer in mind to help them save time and cost.”
How Maia works
To use the AI agent, homebuyers can log in on the Mogul.sg app or website and list the details of their ideal home, such as location, housing type, price and desired amenities nearby, Mr Sim said during a demonstration.
Maia will curate recommended listings for the user, drawing information from both external property sites and Mogul.sg’s own property listings portal. The user can tap “dislike” to remove a listing or “like” to save it.
Saved listings will be displayed on the Favourites tab, where users can click “request viewing&...