Can AI-generated images help buyers see a property's potential, or do they risk creating unrealistic expectations? Using two real examples, this article looks at the difference between misleading AI visualisations and using AI honestly to help buyers look beyond decoration and imagine simple, affordable improvements.
Do AI images have a place in property marketing?
Artificial Intelligence has become one of the biggest talking points in property marketing over the last couple of years. Some people love it, while others think it has no place in selling homes.
So, are AI-generated property images a good thing or a bad thing?
The honest answer is that they can be both. Like most technology, it depends entirely on how they are used.
Of late, I've noticed an increasing number of properties appearing on the major property portals where the first photographs are AI-generated visualisations. At first glance they look attractive, and it's easy to assume that you're looking at the property as it exists today.
It's only when you start looking more closely that you discover the property is actually a complete renovation project, perhaps even little more than a shell, and the attractive images are showing what it could become after a substantial investment.
In fairness, many of these visualisations are well produced and may give a realistic impression of the finished result. The problem is that they can also create confusion. More than once I've found myself wondering whether I was looking at a home that was genuinely for sale in that condition, or simply an artist's impression of what it might look like one day.
I think there is a better way to use AI.
Recently we sent details of a property to a prospective buyer who came back with the comment that they didn't like the kitchen.
In truth, it was a nice modern open-plan kitchen that was well designed. There was nothing particularly wrong with it. It simply wasn't to their taste. Their only real criticism was the wood finish on the cabinets and the island unit.
Instead of dismissing the property, we used AI to produce a couple of alternative versions of exactly the same kitchen, simply changing the colour of the cabinetry while leaving everything else exactly as it was.
The buyer could immediately see that, with relatively modest, low-cost changes, the kitchen could look very different. What had been an objection became something they could easily imagine adapting to suit their own taste.
That, to me, is where AI can be genuinely useful.
One of the biggest challenges in selling property has always been that many buyers struggle to look beyond decoration. Dark walls, old-fashioned tiles or kitchen cupboard colours that don't appeal can sometimes distract attention from an otherwise excellent property.
AI can help bridge that gap. It allows buyers to visualise possibilities without pretending that those changes have already been made.
The important distinction is honesty.
Show buyers the property as it actually exists today. Let them see the real kitchen, the real bathroom and the real living room. If they struggle to imagine how cosmetic improvements could transform the space, then AI can be an excellent tool to help them picture the possibilities.
Used that way, AI doesn't replace reality. It helps explain it.
Technology should make buying property easier, not more confusing.
For me, the best approach is simple. Present the property honestly first. Then, if it helps answer a buyer's questions or overcome concerns about decoration, use AI visualisations to demonstrate what could be achieved.
Used like this, AI isn't misleading. It's simply helping buyers see beyond somebody else's choice of paint colour. In many ways, it's a modern version of what estate agents have always called objection handling. The difference is that instead of trying to explain what could be done, we can now show it.
The AI visualisations shown above were created from the original photographs of a renovated apartment for sale in Nueva Andalucía. The original images remain the primary marketing photographs, with the AI versions included simply to demonstrate how cosmetic changes could alter the appearance of the kitchen.
