How to Power a Property Business with AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a powerful tool that saves landlords and property managers time by enhancing tenant dealings and maximising profits.

Harnessing AI can help landlords streamline their property businesses. Here are some trailblazing apps that are leading the way and show how they can transform tedious admin tasks.

Screening tenants

The Guild of Residential Landlords can help landlords reference tenants. Its AI-powered tenant screening tools can analyse prospective tenants' credit scores, confirm rental histories, verify employment, and delve into social media to provide a comprehensive personal assessment. The final report reduces the risk of renting to unreliable tenants.

Start by adding an applicant to the Tenancy Builder part of the website and sending them the unique URL and code. While completing the application, they can authorise their bank via the Open Banking protocol. Once completed, you can view the applicant and, near the bottom, click Analyse with AI. It will summarise the application, looking for pros and cons. If a bank was authorised, 90 days of history is also summarised. In addition, you can upload other items like the tenancy assessment score report via referencing, bank statements or accounts for further analysis. Please note that the service is still being tested, and check all results carefully.

Find out more about Applicants.

Maintenance and repairs

AI-driven maintenance management apps can predict if appliances or infrastructure will likely fail, allowing for proactive repairs. AI also automates handling maintenance requests from tenants, ensuring timely responses and improving tenant satisfaction.

One of the best-known property maintenance management apps is Fixflo, but it may be prohibitive for landlords with small portfolios.

Find out more about Fixflo.

Rental pricing and house prices

Setting the right rent is an ideal application for AI and is critical to attracting tenants and ensuring profitability. AI algorithms can analyse market trends, property features, and local competition to recommend optimal rents. Dynamic pricing helps landlords stay competitive while maximising their rental income.

RentSmart is an AI start-up assessing rents for landlords in London

Houseprice.ai calculates the asking price for a property sale in seconds

PropertyData helps investors source homes to rent as buy-to-lets and shared houses

Energy management

Smart home technology, powered by AI, can optimise energy usage in rental properties. Systems that control heating, cooling, and lighting based on occupancy patterns can significantly reduce energy costs. Tenants benefit from lower utility bills, while landlords can market their properties as energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.

Hive and Nest are good stepping-off points for energy management. A more advanced tool for shared houses and holiday lets is Time-o-stat.

Keeping financial records

The bookkeeping and financial management market is swamped with AI tools that automate the reconciliation and grouping of income and expenses to produce a trial balance and accounts for landlords without accounting or tax experience.

Depending on the complexity of a property business's financial affairs, landlords can try FreeAgent, Xero, or Iris products.

Booke.ai is a purer AI-driven option.

Market analysis and investment insights

AI can assist landlords in making informed investment decisions by analysing real estate market trends, demographic data, and economic indicators. This can help identify high-potential investment opportunities and provide insights into the best times to buy or sell properties.

AI comes at a cost

AI offers landlords and property managers a range of benefits. Leveraging AI-driven tools and solutions can improve tenant satisfaction, reduce operational costs, and optimise their property management processes.

But technology comes at a cost. AI saves time and money for landlords with more extensive property portfolios, but landlords with one or two rentals must balance the benefits against cost.