The Agency to create AI platform; Recruiting Insight adds CRM 

Editor's note: Technology is a driving force in real estate. From startups to established players, tech companies are constantly innovating, growing and forging partnerships. Here we highlight some of the latest news about the companies that help power the industry. 

The Agency develops proprietary AI platform for global network

The Agency is developing an AI-native platform exclusively for its agents and leadership, combining brokerage data and business tools in a single interface designed to support research, decision-making and daily workflows, the company announced last week.

The platform will consolidate information from the MLS, market data, transaction management, brokerage finances, listing syndication, marketing tools and workplace communications into a centralized data environment. The natural language capabilities will enable users to ask questions and receive responses based on the brokerage's live internal data, according to a news release.

The Agency said sensitive client, transaction and financial information will be processed through models hosted on infrastructure it controls, while commercial models will handle tasks where their reasoning and other capabilities are useful. The brokerage plans to introduce the new platform to its leadership team first, with a broader rollout for agents planned in 2027.

"By owning the architecture, running our own models alongside the best commercial ones, and unifying data that has never lived in one place, we're giving our agents and leadership a real competitive advantage that only exists inside The Agency," EVP of Innovation and Strategy Zane Burnett said.

Recruiting Insight adds CRM and agent assessment tools

Recruiting Insight has introduced a recruiting CRM and an updated agent assessment platform, both of which are designed to help real estate brokerages identify prospective hires, manage outreach and tailor support for new agents.

The company's new HiringCenter platform coordinates email, text and phone campaigns, integrates with a brokerage's social media and collects responses in a single inbox. It also includes AI-assisted follow-up and automation to help brokers maintain contact with candidates.

The upgraded Core Capacities Index measures four work-style drivers by asking agents to complete a word-choice assessment in under 10 minutes. Once complete, brokers receive an individualized coaching plan for the agent's first 90 days, while the agent receives a report and plan tailored to their career stage.

HiringCenter "keeps you in front of the right agents" while the revamped Core Capacities Index "shows you how to help each one succeed from day one," Recruiting Insight Managing Partner Mark Johnson said. "That's how you recruit smarter, not harder."

Delta Media Group launches AI-powered websites

Delta Media Group has introduced Intelligent Websites, an AI-powered experience that enables consumers to search for properties and ask questions through natural-language conversations while giving agents another way to generate leads.

The product replaces reliance on traditional listing searches, navigation menus and registration forms with conversational interactions. It can request visitors' contact information during those exchanges, allowing new leads to come directly from website conversations rather than requiring a separate registration process, according to a news release.

Intelligent Websites is Delta's first release under Delta Connected Intelligence, the company's broader initiative to connect AI capabilities across its real estate websites, CRM and other tools. The release follows the company's corporate website overhaul, which occurred late last month.

"Your website should do more than display listings. It should engage visitors, guide their search and turn conversations into opportunities for agents," Delta Media Group Owner and CEO Michael Minard said. "Intelligent Websites brings that capability directly into home search."

SimplyPMG tool to compare buying, renting costs

SimplyPMG has introduced a free online calculator that compares the long-term financial outcomes of buying a home or continuing to rent, giving prospective homebuyers a way to model the decision using their own financial details.

The tool, called the First-Time Homebuyer Dilemma, asks users for five inputs: their monthly rent, age, planned investment amount, prospective home price and planned retirement age. It then models two scenarios, comparing the financial impact of purchasing a home and investing later with renting while investing the down payment, closing costs and difference between rent and mortgage payments.

The tool tracks projected net worth through retirement, compares housing costs over time and estimates how long savings may last. Users can adjust interest rates, investment growth assumptions and other variables, and review year-by-year calculations, including a retirement drawdown model that incorporates a reverse mortgage.

SimplyPMG said the calculator is designed to change as market conditions, home prices, interest rates and loan program guidelines evolve.

"Some people will run this and find that renting makes sense, others will see buying makes sense," SimplyPMG CEO Jason Madiedo said in a news release. "We want to help people make this decision with real numbers in front of them, without the need to provide their information or complete a form."

GLAR website adds plain-language search function

The Greater Lansing Association of Realtors (GLAR) has announced the introduction of Smart Search, a new tool built into its website that enables buyers to find homes using everyday language and expands the reach of member listings through national search platform Cribio.

Smart Search converts written requests into matching listings drawn from the MLS. Buyers can combine criteria like price, number of bedrooms and property features in one query, search by lifestyle preferences and view results on a map.

The tool supports searches in more than 50 languages and is designed for mobile use. Shoppers can contact listing agents directly with questions about properties, according to a news release.

The new tool "makes MLS listings easier to search," GLAR CEO Meghan Webber said, adding that buyers can "describe the home they want, and the site matches it to accurate, current listings from the MLS."

More tech news

Virtual Results has announced the introduction of a new AI voice narration tool for agent websites. The feature enables website visitors to listen to, rather than read, the content that appears on the site's pages, including listing descriptions and blog posts. The narration automatically updates whenever content is added or changed. The tool is available to agents, brokers and teams nationwide, with the monthly cost of use dependent on listing volume, the company said.

CoStar Group, during its Q3 earnings call Friday, announced plans to acquire aerial imagery program Vexcel. The $730 million cash deal is expected to close in early 2027 pending customary closing conditions and regulatory approval, according to a news release. Vexcel is capable of producing "extremely high-resolution images and survey-grade measurements," CoStar Founder and CEO Andy Florance said. With this acquisition, "we believe we can capture hundreds of data fields per property, across the approximately half a billion properties captured by Vexcel, creating a transformative, new, ultra-low-cost proprietary data source that makes CoStar even more valuable, more accurate, and timelier," Florance added.

Redfin has launched Redfin Presents Iconic Homes of America, a new content franchise that aims to spotlight famous American homes as the country celebrates its 250th year. Each installment will share the story of one notable home by featuring immersive tours, photos and details about the people who have inhabited the property over time. The first two homes that the franchise is featuring are the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia and Bishop's Palace in Galveston, Texas.

HouseUp has launched a new app that the company said is intended to boost the efficiency of for-sale-by-owner transactions. The free app, which is available to users in Canada, enables consumers to list or buy a home, with options to bring human support into the equation when additional help is needed. HouseUp President and CEO Marc Wilson cited agent commission costs as the reason behind the platform's development. "We're building something that we believe has the potential to fundamentally change the way Canadians buy, sell, maintain and improve their homes," Wilson said in a news release. 

Editor's note: AI was used in the initial drafting of this content, which was then thoroughly reviewed, fact-checked and revised by a Real Estate News editor.