Buying a house? This company will use AI to help you

Purchasing a home might be one of the most significant investments that Americans make in a lifetime, and one of the biggest real estate companies in the country is trying to make that process easier, with the assistance of artificial intelligence.

“As important as purchasing a home is, a home search has not been made simpler, even though we have incredible technology available to us,” Dave Mele, the president of Homes.com, said during an interview with FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on Thursday.

Customers will go to Homes.com -- a subsidiary of Dominion Enterprise, the fourth-largest real estate portal by traffic market share -- and, once they’ve picked their location, answer certain questions about their preferences, and then list what’s a must have, and what’s less necessary, but still nice to have.

“And then we use artificial intelligence in a proprietary algorithm to deliver personalized, customized search results for that consumer,” Mele said. “It shows up as a percentage match for that user.”

For instance, a buyer may need a four bedroom and three-bathroom house, but want hardwood floors and a fireplace. The algorithm will return options, with a percentage of how well it matches with the customer’s needs.

There are currently about 3 million active-home listings on Homes.com, Mele said.

“That’s a lot to sort through, even if you localize it,” he said.