What is the spice of life?
For ERA Brand President Alex Vidal, it all comes down to relationships. This truth seems to be getting lost in the rapid digitization of daily life.
To make his point, Vidal looks back at 90 years of research at Harvard University on men and their relationships. The first group, those who grew up enduring the harsh streets of New York City and Newark during the Great Depression, said their lives would be enriched by, well, wealth. And maybe even some fame. Or access the latest gadgets and gizmos of the day.
alex vidal
However, researchers found that the happiest men were those who had built strong relationships with family, friends, and community members. This lesson remains true today, and universities continue to study the descendants of the first group.
“What they discovered was that happiness has nothing to do with how much fame or money you have, but everything to do with how close your relationships are with the people you care about, your friends, your family, your children,” he said. “I think what we don’t want us to lose as a society is the ability to have real, deep, meaningful conversations, because ultimately that’s what brings people together.”
Vidal said he hopes his affiliates, which total nearly 50,000 people worldwide, don’t lose their human touch as AI moves deeper into real estate, a point he said he drives home through his wildly popular ERA coaching sessions.
“AI may help start a relationship, but it will be the back-and-forth dialogue that will allow it to be sustained,” he says.
Mr. Inman met with Mr. Vidal just before the end of 2025. The following is the conversation, edited for clarity and brevity.
Inman: We talked a few months ago about AI and its impact on real estate in the coming year. There are only a few days left until 2026. Is that still in your head?
Vidal: Yes. It has become an integral part of everyone’s life, especially mine. We are doing a major renovation inside the house, so you can take pictures of the bedroom to tell us [AI] Please remove all the furniture, add some items you saw at West Elm, and show me a mock-up of what my bedroom would look like if I purchased those items.
My twins will turn 16 next week, so we are planning to buy two cars. have [AI] Helped me during the negotiation process.
So, [AI] It’s in every aspect of my life. I don’t think it was on my radar last year, and if it was, it was minimal. So AI has been the big trend for 25 years.
I have definitely embraced AI even more this year. While last year’s focus was mostly on ChatGPT and other large-scale language models, I think this year people have become more thoughtful and creative about how they leverage AI. What is the most innovative use of AI you have seen?
We look at AI through the lens of how agents use it to connect with consumers. I think some of the biggest advances will be in understanding how AI sources answers and cracks their codes. And if you can crack that code, you’ll have a richer AI experience.
For example, there’s a great program called Answer. You can go to “Answers” and ask, “What questions are most homebuyers asking today?” And everything from Google to various AI programs to social media platforms like TikTok can literally tell you what the most frequently asked questions are, how many times people are asking them, and so on. And some people use it to create content. Sometimes with the help of AI, when someone goes to an AI platform to ask a question, that content is displayed.
But I think you’re right. Marian. An automated AI-powered chatbot that says, “We’re open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Ask your questions here” is cool. But we’re moving beyond that. You’ll see AI being used in unique ways to study consumer behavior, identify early trends, and fill in the gaps.
This poses an interesting question. I don’t know if you’re going to ask about 26 years, but if you are…
You beat me in the jump. Please tell me more.
Let me show you a real example. My twins turned 16 on December 30th. We bought one used. He wanted an old F-150 with 150,000 miles on it for $12,000. easy. I am leasing a car for my other son. I am very familiar with how leasing works. This is because you have already signed a rental agreement before. I’ve also always studied how things work and how negotiations take place.
But long story short, I went to the dealer, told them what I was looking for, and came away with an offer. I used AI to figure out the best way to reach out to other dealers in the market, put offers in front of them, and get those dealers to bid on my business.
I used AI to structure what I wanted to say into a non-emotional, highly strategic business response. I’m an emotional person, so I wanted to take the emotion out of it.
So I finally got some agreement with this dealer and I went to sign the papers and I was sitting in the finance office and this guy started trying to sell me different things and I had to negotiate with him so many times that I literally stood up and said, “That’s a deal breaker.” And I was able to get up and walk away from the deal. And I’m waiting to hear from them today.
But at the time, I couldn’t say, “Hey, David, wait a minute.” What should the AI reply? ”I had to use my own deal negotiation skill set, my ability to stand up, have an emotionless attachment to the car, walk away, and be able to have that interaction with someone.
So what does this have to do with real estate? Agents rely on AI to write emails, create social media content, write blogs, and more. However, there will come a time when AI will run out and need to be right in front of the consumer. So I think the biggest trend to watch next year is whether agents lose the cognitive ability to have real conversations when it matters when they can’t look at their phones to answer questions.
You’re not alone in having such concerns. I’ve seen a lot of articles about the decline in reading comprehension, media literacy, etc. among children, teens, and adults, and to be honest, it’s alarming. So what do you think brokerage leaders should do to keep their agents sharp?
Yes, there are two ways to go about it. Education and coaching. If you look at ERA’s coaching program, yes, we spend a lot of time on technology, we spend a lot of time talking about AI. But the core of the program is still based on having deep and meaningful conversations with people.
After all, the only way people will work with you is because they like and trust you. Thanks to AI, that won’t happen. It happens because they can have a real conversation with you.
So I encourage people not to move away from the relationship business, which is still the core of our business. AI may help start a relationship, but it’s the back-and-forth interaction that allows it to be sustained. Honestly, it’s a lost art. So don’t run away from it.
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