AI tools reshape how Southern California real estate agents and lenders work
Artificial intelligence has moved into Southern California's real estate industry, with mortgage lenders and agents adopting tools that speed up client outreach and loan comparisons.
JJ Mazzo, a mortgage lender at CrossCountry Mortgage in San Juan Capistrano, uses Mortgage Coach to narrow mortgage options for clients in minutes. The software produces side-by-side comparisons of loan variables, interest payments, tax benefits, and cost estimates, then presents them through interactive graphs, charts, and video narration.
Before automation, his team generated larger sets of options by hand. "I can find somebody's needs and wants and be able to put them into a format that's much easier to present," Mazzo said.
Real estate agents are expanding their reach differently. Paul Young, an Irvine-based agent, uses Handwrytten, an AI-powered robot that handwrites hundreds of prospecting cards to potential sellers.
Young previously wrote cards himself but could only produce about 10 per day. The machine has no limit. His response rate from prospecting cards has tripled since switching to the robot, improving his ability to establish presence in targeted neighborhoods through what agents call "geographic farming."
"You can scale as much as possible," Young said.
Major listing sites Zillow and Redfin have recently adopted AI. Davide Proserpio, an assistant professor of business administration at USC, said AI will help consumers search for properties more easily and request more property tours.
Bias and discrimination concerns
Large language models, the most common type of AI in real estate, contain vast datasets that can harbor historical biases. Proserpio warned that minorities could face discrimination in mortgage applications because the data training these tools is biased against them.
"We know from the past that the application approval process can be biased even when driven by a human," Proserpio said. "Now we put an algorithm in the middle and things could get even worse."
California's Civil Rights Department implemented rules in October 2025 to prevent discrimination through AI tools in employment and housing. An AI system can violate state law if it harms applicants based on protected characteristics like race, gender, or disability.
Whether these technologies can unlearn their biases remains an open question, Proserpio said.
Human judgment still needed
Los Angeles real estate agent and coach Paul Figueiredo argues that real estate is inherently social work. No matter how deeply AI is embedded, people are necessary to resolve disagreements between buyers, sellers, and agents.
He points to clients consulting ChatGPT for property valuations and getting contradictory responses that undermine deals. "Somebody who has just a little bit of information can turn a deal sideways for them and ruin their confidence," Figueiredo said. "Now people have that at their fingertips."
For professionals in real estate and construction looking to understand how AI tools fit into their workflows, resources on AI for Real Estate & Construction and the AI Learning Path for Real Estate Brokers offer practical guidance on adoption and implementation.
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