Overview of The AI Tools That Save Real Estate Investors Time and Money (Weekly!)
In this episode of the BiggerPockets Real Estate Rookie Podcast, Ashley Kehr and Tony J. Robinson break down how real estate investors can use AI as a true business tool—not just a chatbot. Tony shares practical examples from his own portfolio and education company, showing how AI can help build websites, automate marketing, centralize reporting, and reduce repetitive admin work. The main message: you do not need to be a developer to use AI effectively; you just need a clear outcome and willingness to iterate.
Biggest Takeaways
AI is moving beyond “ask it questions”
Tony emphasizes that modern AI is less about search and more about doing work on your behalf. The biggest value comes when AI becomes a quasi-employee that handles tasks, organizes data, drafts content, and helps make decisions.
Start with the end result, not the technical steps
One of the strongest themes in the conversation is that you don’t need to know how to code or build a system from scratch. Instead, tell AI what you want the final result to be, and let it guide you through the process step by step.
AI can replace a lot of repetitive manual work
From booking sites to ad management to financial dashboards, Tony shows how AI can remove many of the tedious tasks that usually take time away from higher-value work.
AI Tools and Platforms Mentioned
Major AI platforms
Tony highlights the major frontier models and ecosystems:
- ChatGPT / OpenAI
- Claude / Anthropic
- Gemini / Google
- Grok / xAI
- Meta AI
Specialized tools and wrappers
- Stanley AI – a social-media-focused AI tool that analyzes Instagram and helps create carousel posts, reels, and content ideas.
- Hospitable – used for short-term rental management, including AI-powered guest communication.
- Claude Code – Tony’s preferred environment for building custom tools and dashboards.
How Tony Uses AI in His Business
1. Building a direct booking website
Tony used AI to build a custom direct booking website for his short-term rentals.
What AI handled
- Website design and layout mockups
- UI/UX refinements
- Building the site itself
- Connecting the site to Hospitable
- Setting up tracking for future ad campaigns
Why he did it
The goal wasn’t just aesthetics. He wanted:
- More design control than Hospitable offered
- Better tracking for paid ads
- A custom booking experience without paying an agency
Time and cost savings
What could have cost thousands of dollars through a web agency was built in about a week of part-time effort.
2. Automating ad management
For his education company, Tony built an AI “skill” that acts like a media buyer.
What it does
Every morning it:
- Reviews active ads
- Identifies top performers
- Flags weak performers
- Suggests budget changes
- Recommends new ad concepts
- Generates scripts for video ads
- Creates image ad concepts when needed
Why this matters
He previously paid an agency several thousand dollars per month to do this work. AI now handles much of the analysis and ideation, while Tony simply approves changes and provides feedback.
3. Creating a business “mothership” dashboard
Tony built a custom dashboard that pulls together data from multiple sources across his Airbnb business.
Data sources include
- Bank feeds
- QuickBooks
- PriceLabs
- Hospitable
What the dashboard shows
- Cash on hand for each property
- Upcoming reservations
- Review scores
- Projected income
- Expected cash balance after mortgage and expenses
This gives him one place to check portfolio performance instead of jumping across multiple platforms.
4. Simplifying credit card and expense reconciliation
Tony also built a dashboard to help with:
- Credit card transaction review
- Bank-account allocation
- Payment reconciliation across his Profit First-style accounts
This turns a manual, recurring bookkeeping chore into a quick review-and-approve workflow.
5. Daily summaries and email drafting
One of the simplest but most useful AI workflows Tony uses is a daily assistant that:
- Summarizes his calendar
- Reviews his email
- Drafts responses
- Prepares him for the day and week ahead
This helps him stay on top of communication without spending hours in his inbox.
Key Concepts Explained
APIs vs. MCP
Tony explains the difference between:
- API: a way for software systems to communicate
- MCP (Model Context Protocol): a newer wrapper layer designed to help AI models connect to tools and data more efficiently
In plain English: these are the connectors that let AI do useful work inside your systems.
“Skills” as mini-employees
Tony describes AI skills as basically:
- A file of instructions
- A set of rules
- Reference material
- Guardrails for how the AI should behave
This means you can create custom AI agents for specific roles, like:
- Media buyer
- Reporting assistant
- Support assistant
- Operations helper
How This Applies to Real Estate Investors
High-value use cases for investors
Tony and Ashley identify several repetitive real estate tasks AI can help with:
- Lead tracking
- Guest communication
- Booking management
- Financial reporting
- Inventory and supply ordering
- Ad campaign analysis
- Inbox sorting and response drafting
Example from Ashley’s liquor store
Ashley points out that her liquor store still involves:
- Manual inventory review
- Texting order lists back and forth
- Her being a bottleneck for approvals
Tony suggests AI could potentially:
- Track inventory trends automatically
- Forecast reorder levels
- Check holiday-driven demand spikes
- Prepare a reorder list for approval
- Reduce communication friction between her and her employee
What Tony Wants to Build Next
Tony shared a few future AI ideas he wants to implement, including:
- An AI phone/concierge for Airbnb guests
- A system where guests can ask questions in real time
- Better automated reporting for partners
- More customer-service automation across businesses
His broader goal is to:
- Reduce time spent managing operations
- Improve the customer experience
- Eliminate repetitive, low-value work
Practical Advice for Listeners
If you want to start using AI in your business:
- Pick one repetitive task you hate doing
- Define the exact outcome you want
- Ask AI to walk you through the build
- Use AI to draft, analyze, and connect systems
- Refine it over time instead of trying to make it perfect on day one
Best mindset shift
Don’t ask: “How do I become technical enough to use AI?” Ask: “What work do I want AI to do for me?”
Final Takeaway
This episode makes a strong case that AI is now a legitimate operations tool for real estate investors and entrepreneurs. Whether it’s building a website, managing ads, or automating reporting, the biggest wins come from using AI to replace repetitive work, not just generate ideas. Tony’s approach is simple: start with the result, let AI help with the build, and keep finding ways to turn manual tasks into systems.