OnTheMarket first portal to use AI to help agents list properties

AI has been much debated within the industry, but portal OnTheMarket (OTM) is the first use the technology to help home movers search for a property, and agents upload listings.

‘Otiem’ (pronounced oh-tee-em and a play on the company’s abbreviated name) was successfully soft launched at the start of July on the desktop and mobile browser versions of the portal’s buy and rental channels before officially going live.

OTM’s new AI tech enables home movers to enter their searches in the same way they would describe their ideal property when speaking to an agent or a friend, without needing to manually filter each of their requirements.

For example, home hunters can search for a “three-bedroom houses in Brighton up to £650,000 with parking and a garden” and Otiem will match the criteria to existing filters and OnTheMarket’s ‘Wish List’ sort function to present consumers with properties that best fit their needs.

Also, they will soon be able to speak their searches directly to Otiem on mobile devices, through the OnTheMarket iOS and Android apps, which are currently in development and expected later this year.

Writing details

For OTM agents, an AI powered assistant has been created for agents to make writing property details faster and easier, and will available in ‘a few weeks’.

Agents will be able to enter the details of a listing, which may be copied from a pre-existing description on their own website, and the AI assistant will quickly pull out the features, fields and room names of the property, which will then be presented to the agent in list form.

Member agents will then be able to approve or untick the features generated by the AI assistant, saving valuable time on each listing.

Jason Tebb, Chief Executive Officer of OnTheMarket, comments: “We’re proud to be the first major UK property portal to leverage the advantages of AI natural-language technology to enhance the search experience for our consumers.