For years, estate agency technology has focused heavily on activity.
How many valuations were booked.
How many proposals were sent.
How many follow-up calls were made.
But one of the biggest gaps in the industry has always been visibility into what homeowners are actually thinking after the valuation appointment.
That is beginning to change.
At Acaboom, we recently reviewed hundreds of real homeowner interactions with our AI Concierge tool — an AI assistant embedded within estate agency proposals and presentations.
The findings were fascinating.
Not because homeowners were asking unusual questions…
…but because of what they were not asking.
The valuation appointment is not the decision
One thing became immediately clear:
homeowners continue processing, questioning and comparing long after the valuer leaves the property.
This strongly reinforces something we have believed for a long time:
The valuation appointment itself is only part of the instruction journey.
Much of the real decision-making happens afterwards.
And increasingly, homeowners are using AI to help them navigate that process.
So what are homeowners actually asking?
The majority of interactions focused on:
• Property value and pricing strategy
• Fees and commission structures
• Marketing exposure and promotion
• Tie-in periods and contracts
• Clarification around next steps
Interestingly, generic “why choose us?” questions were far less common than many might expect.
Instead, homeowners appeared far more focused on practical decision-making.
Pricing dominates attention
The single biggest topic by far was valuation and pricing.
Homeowners regularly asked:
• How was this valuation reached?
• Is this asking price realistic?
• What pricing strategy would work best?
• Is this figure achievable?
• What happens if we market too high?
This tells us something important.
Homeowners are not simply looking for a number.
They are looking for confidence in the strategy behind the number.
That means agencies should spend less time simply presenting valuations…
…and more time explaining them.
The agencies most likely to win instructions may not be those giving the highest valuation, but those helping homeowners feel most confident in the pricing approach.
Fees are not being avoided
Another major finding was how often homeowners discussed fees with AI.
Questions included:
• What is included?
• Can fees be negotiated?
• How long is the tie-in period?
• Are certain services extra?
• What happens if the property does not sell?
What is particularly interesting is the tone.
Many homeowners appeared comfortable asking AI questions they may not always ask directly during the appointment itself.
That creates a major opportunity.
AI is becoming more than a chatbot
One of the most surprising findings was that homeowners often used AI almost like a communication layer rather than simply a question-answer tool.
Examples included:
• Requesting callbacks
• Asking for documents to be resent
• Clarifying progression
• Asking what happens next
• Discussing timing around decisions
This suggests AI is evolving into part of the wider customer experience and instruction journey.
Homeowners care more about actions than slogans
Another clear pattern emerged.
Homeowners asked far more about:
• Portal exposure
• Marketing strategy
• Buyer reach
• Advertising
• Promotion methods
…than they did about broad agency branding statements.
That does not mean branding is unimportant.
But it does suggest homeowners are heavily focused on:
“What will this agent actually do to help sell my property?”
For agencies, this is important.
The strongest proposals are unlikely to be those filled with generic corporate messaging.
They are more likely to be:
• Clear
• Visual
• Practical
• Confidence-building
• Focused on homeowner decision-making
What this means for estate agency content
The findings suggest agencies should increasingly think differently about proposal and valuation content.
The most effective content is probably not agency-centred.
It is homeowner decision-centred.
That means helping homeowners:
• Understand the pricing strategy
• Feel confident in the process
• Understand what marketing will happen
• Know what happens next
• Reduce uncertainty
• Feel reassured about their decision
In many ways, the proposal is no longer just a recap document.
It is becoming an active engagement tool that supports the instruction decision after the appointment itself.
The bigger opportunity: behavioural intelligence
Perhaps the most important finding is this:
AI interactions reveal intent.
Not just whether a homeowner opened a proposal…
…but:
• What concerns they have
• What matters most to them
• Where hesitation exists
• What stage they are at in the decision process
That opens up a much bigger opportunity for estate agencies.
Because the future may not simply be about sending better proposals.
It may be about understanding homeowner behaviour well enough to know:
• who is most engaged
• what concerns they have
• how to follow up
• and when to act
And that changes the role of technology entirely.