The Real Estate Skill AI Will Never Replace

The more artificial intelligence grows, the more relational intelligence matters. There's a mistake I think many investors are making, assuming that because AI can give you faster answers, it can replace judgment. It can't. AI can give perspective, it can sharpen your analysis, it can help you even see options that you may have missed. But final decisions, trust, and the quality of the rooms you're still in shapes the outcomes. And in a world where everyone has access to the same tools, trusted relationships may become even more valuable, not less. So in today's episode, we're talking about how AI is changing networking for real estate investors, where investors may over-rely on technology, and why the networking skill AI cannot replace may become one of your greatest advantages moving forward. Let's get into it.

Welcome to the Real Estate InvestHer Podcast, a top 1% The 1% Show, helping women achieve financial freedom by investing in real estate.

And now your hosts, Liz Faircloth and Andresa Guidelli.

I absolutely believe that AI can support all real estate investors become better networkers. From building relationships with the lender to evaluating a syndication, to connecting with a fellow real estate investor, you can always get strategies or What should I ask? What should I avoid? What I must have on a contract? You can always get that information in place. I think when real estate investors get in trouble is when they take AI answer as their final judgment. I think actually weaken their decision-making process. It's kind of dangerous. Then you're just relying on AI to think for you. And what we are recommending here is that gather that information and then bring it to somebody who has gone through what you are going through and say, does this make sense? Right? You don't wanna look like a fool in front of people. Say, does this make sense? No, this is too much. You wouldn't ask all those questions on the first time that you meet a lender. That's too much, too soon. So I think that people are not relying on relationships right now in order to navigate areas where they are new into, and that can be a signal that just to watch out. So Liz, I know you are, you have brand new luxury building.

Yeah.

And this is your first one, so you are navigating new areas. How are you using AI to support you and how you are utilizing relationships to help you?

Yeah, absolutely. So like anything, right, there's a gap of knowledge. I wanted to fill that gap a little bit in terms of just doing some research on not just finishes for the property. That's one obvious angle, but even just the important aspects of luxury that's different than a normal, you know, so to speak, construction project. So I really, you know, from the beginning I said, you know, think like a luxury builder. And I've been going back and forth from when the architect was running ideas by us, by, by Every part of the process, honestly, I'm dealing with the attorney and zoning. What questions should I ask the attorney to vet the attorney? So I was really using it now, you know, continuing on as we're almost done all of our roughs. But I gotta tell you, I was like, okay, I can definitely ask them about design, right? It gave me some great ideas and I started looking on Pinterest and I had some fun with that. But I'm like, I need to verify this. I can't verify this just with ChatGPT, you know, although I love talking to ChatGPT like, like you do, Andresa. I did end up hiring a designer, and these designers are designers for specifically properties in, in the New Hope area. And so then I looked at some of their design work, some of their properties. I'm like, okay, is this aligned with the vibe that I'm hearing on chat saying that could work right now? And I just keep kind of using it like this back and forth relationship, like trust but verify. You and I talk about all the time, right? It's not like I'm not using it or I'm only using it, but I'm definitely relying on the team that I've built to really say, okay, hey, what are you seeing right now? And what do you think might be a good idea here? And then verifying that with ChatGPT. It's like this back and forth dance that I've been, you know, using it that way. That's how, how I've been utilizing it, especially because I don't have a buyer yet, right? So I'm, I'm building a spec home. I'm building something that has to be, you know, desirable enough to most people, but also not be so generic and vanilla that it doesn't have a uniqueness. But that's the, the dance too, right? When you're, when you're in this, this business. So that's kind of how I've been trusting but verifying and using it along the way. But I have A+ people. I have to have A+ people on every, every step of the way to ensure what I'm doing is gonna, it's gonna work, right?

Yeah. And one thing that I would just share with all of you that are listening, uh, we are going through, have been through for the past couple of months on a AEO cleanup. I'll dissect it very quickly so you don't zone out. Basically, it's like, where is ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, all those AIs gathering their information? Where are they going? The fun part about it is that a lot of websites are not prepared for them. So it, it doesn't work like Google, like the SEO that we used to. So keep that in mind that as business owners and all different companies clean up their website so AI can indeed grab proper information, you've got to continue verifying everything that it's saying and not simply accept as the, the truth. Only the truth, right? And I think that's something that we need to understand. Where is it gather— gathering the information? Is the source reliable? Ask for the resource. Where did you get this information here? Ask for the resource and then you verify, is this resource actually legit or is from 1999? It doesn't apply anymore. Ask for that. You'll be very surprised on the answers that you're going to get.

Andresa, one other, one other resource that I've been using too on the luxury build is all the people that I was— I'm relying on from a relationship perspective are all— I'm paying all of them, right? I'm paying them to do X, Y, and Z. So the other person or other people you need to have in your circle are other investors building luxury, like doing the, doing the actual project that you're doing. So they're coming before you in essence and saying, okay, doesn't mean every market's the same or every luxury build is the same, but really helpful to have people people in your circle who are doing luxury builds. Doesn't have to be in, in my community, but outside. And, you know, one of our Strive members, right, we toured her luxury build when we were out in Arizona preparing for InvestorCon. And, uh, you know, we had our, our weekend with, with our Strive members, and it was just really helpful to walk her property, say, hey, why are you doing this? Why, why did you do that? And I got so many great ideas again from a walkthrough, not from something on ChatGPT, from a walkthrough, and then verifying. So I just want to mention that too. It's really important to have relationships with people that you're not right, that are in your circle that are there to really just support you and ha— and have come before you in a similar product or strategy.

All right. So the second shift that I am seeing is communication. We all know AI can help us organize our thoughts, draft some messages, right? The issue is when it replaces our voice, and then you seem very polished at all times, right?

It's so obvious when you get those messages. It's like so canned and like, oh God.

Yeah, people don't even delete the spaces or the— The space.

The hash mark.

The dashes or—

The dashes.

That made me think, you're lazy.

I definitely don't wanna communicate with you 'cause you're lazy.

Let's be honest with you, right? AI helped me as an immigrant, right? English is not my first language. So it really helped me reduce grammar mistakes or make it more clear. Think about it. It was a lot of mental load to say, does it make sense? Is it grammatically correct, right? So it helped me that. But sometimes, I'll be honest again with you here, I say to ChatGPT, You wanna know what I say?

Well, you curse at it sometimes, you told me.

I share with all of you yesterday night during the mastermind. Sometimes I communicate with ChatGPT and I always talk. I don't, I rarely type. I talk a lot and then it transcribes and then it, boom, gives me the, the answer. And sometimes I read it, I'm like, I say what I'm gonna say. What the hell was that? I don't know what you mean. It's confusing as hell. Get to the freaking point. Don't go around the bush. Be friendly. Be nice. Be professional. 100%. Or sometimes like, you're looking like an asshole here. That doesn't sound right. But it has to sound like me. If you get too of a friendly emojis email, like she got kidnapped. That's not her at all. Her account got hacked.

Yeah. If you, right? Or exclamation points. If you get an email from Andresa and there's a lot of exclamation points, there's no way she wrote that.

That ain't me.

That ain't you.

That ain't me. Right? So then it's like, what do we do from here? What is the middle ground? What have you found, Liz, when you are writing something that you wanna sound like you versus they don't know if they are really talking to you or to somebody else. And I think that the biggest thing here is not even the message itself, is how people feel about the message. People feel distance from the person. And that's what I think the biggest, what is at stake.

I think it goes back to what are we using? Different types of communication for different conversations. And we're relying way too much on, A, using AI to then send that email back. But it can't replace a phone call, or even better, an in-person meeting. It just can't. And I think that's the biggest crux of all of this. You know, for example, if I'm looking to bring on a team member, sure, I'm gonna use AI to say, what questions should I ask? How do I vet this person? What are some key performance indicators I should be measuring them against? 'Cause it's maybe a new role for me. Go, keep going, right? Back and forth, back and forth. And then you have a Zoom meeting with them. But if you're bringing them onto your team, go one step further, break bread with them. If it's an important person or a partner, even break bread with them, meet them. That's the part I think from a communication perspective, Andresa, that is getting so missed right now. People are doing deals, they're forming partnerships, they're lending to each other a lot of money, 6-figure lending, and they're not meeting with them. Face-to-face. And that is just amiss. You know, you and I are diligent, you know, if you will, every month to meet. Talk about AI, we could both go back and forth and never see each other again if we didn't need to. But we need to, to continue to grow our relationship and our partnership. So people are missing that. I don't know how else to get that through people's heads, but you need to be breaking bread with people if it's someone that you're going to be communicating a lot to and building a relationship with. AI can't do that.

Which leads to the third shift here, which is the relational intelligence. This is the one of the skills that AI cannot replace. You reading body language, you really understanding when something is off. You know when something is off, you smell something is off. It's like, that didn't go well. AI can't pick that at all. And I think that's what's going to really differentiate people that really build true relationship, right? And those that close deals because of the relationships, those that build partnerships because of the relationships. You can't go in business with somebody by exchanging emails. Actually, they're not exchanging emails. It's so-and-so AI with so-and-so AI communicating, right? And then, wait a minute, and then you meet in person and like, who are you? You did not speak like that. You catfished me.

Love that term.

You did not speak like that. Who are you? Right? And you guys will not believe the stories that we hear from people going into business, lending money, becoming business partners. With very little communication before the partnership and during the partnership. They communicate through emails. And I think that that is a big miss because why do I wanna see people's face? Because I wanna know for sure when I'm looking at them, if what their mouth is saying, their body's agreeing. So if you are just listening to me right now, just go to YouTube and just watch me so I can tell you, you can see what I'm talking about. Oh, so how do you think our partnership is going? Oh, it's wonderful. I have nothing bad to say. What the hell? My body's saying no. My mouth is saying it's wonderful. We don't have anything else to realign or to clean up or to deal with. How is your investment going? How is the project going? Oh, wonderful. We are on time and on budget.

Uh-uh.

Your body's telling me that you ate, right? And why does that matter? Because I don't have freaking patience, neither time, neither desire to deal with people that cannot own they're being themselves, authentic selves. I, I don't, right? So that is a skillset AI will never pick up, right? We can even say, hey, Mary, Mary said something, but her body said something else. What do you think? And they, AI will give you a perspective. Treat AI as a perspective. As a third-party perspective, right? You know, when you like ask grandma, ask your Uncle Johnny, it's a perspective. Many times Uncle Johnny ain't right either. Grandma is just happy to say something, right? Same thing with AI. Sometimes AI is like, mm, you missed this one, let's get going, right? Because you can do that. And with you, Liz, I've learned so much about relationships and the power of building relationships throughout those years. I am a process-oriented individual, right? So building relationships, curating it intentionally is not on the front, is not on my front load per se.

You become very good at it. I'm very proud of you. You've done, you've done a great job.

I think it's intentional work. I feel it's intentional work and And also accepting what I mentioned about, I'm not gonna jive with everybody. Either I'm gonna jive very quickly with somebody or I'm not jive, we just, we just don't, right? Liz, it's more of like, I don't, do you feel, Liz, that you, you jive, jive, drive, whatever, with a lot of people?

Probably.

You connect with a lot of people. And sometimes we leave a conversation and I say to her, "Hmm, it was odd when she said to the..." yada, yada, yada. And then Liz is like, "Oh, oh, I didn't pick up that." But I feel that you get along with people much more than I do. Is that fair to say?

I do. I do think I naturally do that. I've also learned that you're not gonna build relationships with everyone. Nor do I want to. I don't have that. I don't have that bandwidth, right? I don't have that even in my personal life or even my professional life. I don't, you know, don't have all the time to do that. So the building of a relationship is also very intentional. And that's also part of what AI can't do. You can say, right, as you're playing off of, of, hey, I want to build relationships with XYZ person. What are some key things I should think about? Sure. Again, perspective. But I do think it's the authenticity, Andresa, that allows us to grow as entrepreneurs and picking partners for different projects. We are constantly, and you and I both are very good at this in different ways, but picking up on what someone's saying is very true to them and is there a mask? And that is something only relational intelligence is going to give you. Versus AI. It's just really tough to, tough to take that away and go, yep, I'm gonna judge that. So as you're building relationships, you know, you're really discerning, is this someone I can trust? Is this somebody who I want to build a relationship with? That's also part of it. I don't wanna, I really don't wanna build a relationship with everyone. You've heard us say it before, real estate is a relationship business, and one of the most powerful ways to build those relationships is through meaningful conversations. That's one of the reasons we love podcasting. It's allowed us to connect with incredible women, build deeper relationships, and open doors to opportunities we never expected. But to keep the show running consistently at a high level, we don't do it alone. We have an amazing team behind us at Social Chameleon who handles all the behind the scenes work, the production, the content, and distribution so we can stay focused on serving you. And growing our business. So if you've ever thought about starting your own podcast or taking it to the next level, they can help you do the same. With Social Chameleon, you press record and they handle the rest. Check them out at socialchameleon.us. That's socialchameleon.us.

People say that networking is essential to grow your real estate portfolio. So how do you know you are not in the right room? I know because I want to leave in 5 minutes. I know for sure. I get into a room and I'm not vibing with people. We're not, it seems like we're not speaking the same language. And I can sense something that I'm like, oh, this is going to be draining here versus rooms that I am really like alive. I'm like, what the hell you just said? I never heard of this before. That's what drives me. How, how about you? How do you—

Yeah.

Kind of like measure it?

I think I measure it even before I go to the event. Is the, is this a type of event based on what I know that could yield me of whatever I'm looking for? Right? So most people say, okay, I'm a real estate investor, so I need to go to real estate investing meetups. I would disagree with you. I would disagree with that because it's not, they're not all created equal. For example, you know, we were invited to an event in New York City next week. MasterCard is hosting a summit for small businesses, building a relationship with MasterCard, also building relationships with some small businesses. So I discern, is this a good use of my time?

So you're freaking ditching the Bria meetings in your local—

Totally. I'm totally ditching the Bria meetings. My point is that we only have so much time. And we have to be very, very intentional before we go to events. I do not have time to just go to events right now in my life and just meet people and chat, 'cause honestly, I'll give them a lot of value. I'll help a lot of people. I know that. I don't have that space in my life that way. And I don't mean to sound mean or trite, but it's just not, I wanna give and serve. However, I need to be very mindful of my time. So I think that's the biggest thing, Andresa, is like people stepping back and going, Okay, intentionally, are these the kind of, is this the kind of meeting and group that I wanna be part of? Can I learn something? And if the answer is yes, go for it. That there's nothing wrong with local meetups.

Let me ask you, let me ask you, and I did not tell you anything that I was gonna ask.

Which guy?

So we, we know, we know, you and I know that, listen, very appreciative of every single meetup, Andresa Guidelli, that we have attended.

Hands down.

Throughout heads down. It did his job, its job, and supported us in the phase that we were in. Why do you think people continue going in? Because if I go there, I'm going to see faces that I saw over 10 years ago.

They're there.

So why? They're comfortable or they're not looking to grow or what? Why? It's the same group of people.

Absolutely. And sometimes it's topic related, right? People are, are not looking to deepen relationships. They just wanna learn about a new strategy, a new, a new approach. So in all fairness, sometimes that's what drives people to go to a meetup cuz it's topic heavy, it's topic related. It's not the people per se, but if it's about the people.

But that's when I don't understand cuz that's when I think AI can do a better job.

Do a better job. That's a good point. Maybe that's when you stay home.

Actually, stay home for, for those sort of That's what I'm saying, because I can get access to AI, to the knowledge, to the how-to. That's true. Summarize this freaking book for me. Summarize this podcast. Give me the top, what it, what will Ray Dalio do, right? Quick. Versus Johnny giving me a presentation on, on a strategy.

I think to get deep, and I think that's something you and I like to do is like, let's be very frank here. I think I think certain people like being comfortable and it's what they know and they feel safe when, not to get too deep, but they do feel safe. So if I'm gonna go back to an event every month, not be challenged, not grow really, but I'm gonna be comfortable and I'm gonna know these people almost like a family, that serves a need for them. You know, I have a family, right? I have friends. So for me, I'm gonna go to a, like a business professional event where I'm growing or we're being, you know, have a strategic reason to be together. There is some sort of alignment with our mission, right? What we're up to with Invest Trends her or something along the lines of me learning something around some of the projects I'm working on, right?

What I have seen is also people, they want to be the smartest person in the room. They wanna be the most experienced. They wanna have the biggest portfolio. So they, right? I wanna be in rooms that I'm like, I'm fucking chicken here.

Yeah.

What is going on? Why I don't know what you're talking about.

Yeah. What?

I'm lost. I wanna feel, I wanna feel, me, I get excited when I am in the rooms and I'm like, damn, wow, now you're talking. And I thought that my problem was big compared to this, right? I think he elevates. I think I remember when I was starting learning English and I got to the wrong English class. Everybody was speaking in English. Everybody went to Australia, United States, and I went across the street. I didn't go anywhere. And I came to the teacher and I said, I, I think I need to go back to the other class because I am the dumbest one here, to be honest. She's like, absolutely not. You're staying here because this is how you're going to really grow extremely fast because surrounded by people that speak, you're like, you're gonna be looking at their mouth and you're gonna do extra homework to get to the point.

Yeah.

And you're gonna practice. And I think that same thing with, with real estate investors. We are in an era where access to tools, AI tools, and access to knowledge is very easy. Quick and fast. And that's why proximity to and being in the right room becomes even more valuable than ever. And this is exactly what you can find at our upcoming InvestorCon. Let me give you some stats. This is our 5th InvestorCon. We have over 100 speakers, over 1,500 Attendees. I don't know how many mouths I fed. I did a calculation, was like 1.6 ton just last year.

Oh my gosh.

Anyway, in the room, let me tell you who was in the room in 2025. $1.95 billion assets under management. That's the power of who was in that room. So if you are looking to grow your portfolio strategically, I invite you to put yourself in rooms like that, that is going to stretch your thinking, support your decision making, and you really feel that you are making progress towards achieving the goals and living the life that you want versus just attending another event. Nobody has time for that. I'm gonna leave the link in the show notes. I hope you take All the advice that we share with you today, put that in practice. Let us know if it worked or if AI was mad at you, or to talk to, to it or them or she about it. Let us know. Do something. Do one thing at least out of what you heard today. All right? Thanks for listening.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for listening. I hope you found today's conversation valuable. And don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes. And share this with the women in your life that needs to hear it. I'll see you next week.