Gary Lanham is a real estate agent today largely because his own homebuying experience 25 years ago was so lousy.
Then a health-care consultant, he recalls that his agent essentially disappeared after Lanham signed a contract to buy a three-bedroom, ranch-style home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That left him to coordinate with the title company and his wayward agent's office broker.
Four years later, in looking for a career change, the Richmond, Virginia, native liked the idea of breaking into real estate and used his agent's lack of follow-through as an example of what not to do.
Today, he's a broker associate with Coldwell Banker Realty, where he focuses on representing home sellers in South Florida, particularly in the Fort Lauderdale area. He works in tandem with business partner Eileen Mulkey of LoKation Real Estate.
A few months ago, Lanham earned the Residential Real Estate Council's artificial intelligence certification that helps agents use AI technology to work more efficiently and enhance client experiences. While real estate remains an industry dependent on personal interactions, Lanham said, AI can quickly analyze pricing trends and real-time buyer behavior. It can also help predict the home features that matter the most to buyers, he said.
"I'm a math-heavy kind of guy," he said during a recent breakfast interview over Zoom. "Getting involved with AI, I had the same kind of rush and exhilaration that I had when I was learning calculus or trigonometry. The more I learned, the more I wanted to know."
Lanham elaborated on the power of AI, shared tips for sellers and mused about breaking bread with historical greats. The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
What do sellers need to know about in today's market?
Homes that sell fast aren’t necessarily the cheapest. Between 2021 and 2024, it was not unusual for a house to gain up to $200,000 in value. That's crazy. But there was an influx of cash buyers, and they often didn't need appraisals or inspections. Houses got bid up.
Now, listings have increased, and we have an uncertain economy. Living expenses have gone up, including the cost of home contractors. Buyers are saying, "Why would I buy this house for $500,000 when I have to put in impact glass, hurricane doors and maybe a new roof in a couple of years? Why not refocus my effort for another $100,000 and go for something that really requires no work to move in?" That's going to be a hard pill for some sellers to swallow.
How can sellers without money for upgrades make oddly designed or decorated houses more attractive to potential buyers?
That would involve AI. I've done it a lot.
A three-bedroom, one-bath listing has an area that could accommodate a second bathroom. You could stage that area as a second bathroom, but you have to make a notation on the photograph that it's a staged representation of the property.
If a seller has early American furniture in the house, there's nothing wrong with that, but it's not the look that most people want today. With AI, you can place different furniture in that property, and it looks like today's standards.
I have another listing where there's no furniture in the house. I wanted to stage the living room, the primary bedroom and a back porch that's not air conditioned. I had the porch staged like a dining area off the kitchen. I'm in contract for the house right now.
How else can you incorporate AI into your business?
I got a referral in a very nice neighborhood where homes typically sell for $700,000 to $900,000. I go to the house and conclude it likely has foundation problems. The bathrooms are not updated. Windows are not impact glass, and the front door is not hurricane resistant. And very unlikely, a bank is not going to finance the property; so you're looking for a cash buyer.
My initial conclusion was that the property, even in that great location, would sell for $450,000 to $500,000. Then I used AI to see if I could validate that price range, and what came back to me was my range was consistent with AI's price offerings. It gave me the confidence that I had several arguments to present to the seller.
The seller said he thought the home was worth $700,000 to $900,000. What's the likelihood I'm going to be able to sell the house at the value he thinks it's worth? Not very high. We didn't get the listing. We wish him good luck.
On your website, you list Thomas Jefferson, the late poet Maya Angelou and investor Warren Buffett as the three people you'd invite to a dinner party. Why those three?
I'm from Virginia, and Thomas Jefferson founded the University of Virginia. What an amazing feat. What I liked about him was his stance on liberty — personal liberty.
Warren Buffett is like All-American pie. He invests in companies that had products he used and believed in. He's just so wise and humble.
Maya Angelou grew up in the South and faced discrimination, but she still had hope. And I loved her quotes: "When they show you who they are, believe them the first time."