I Have Been Talking to Your Leasing AI

I’m apartment hunting in the San Francisco area, and nearly every leasing office I’ve contacted this year has handed me off to an AI assistant. I leave an email address and phone number, then get a text a few minutes later.

Every assistant I dealt with identified itself as one. More than one building put that disclosure in small print under the signature, after two paragraphs written in the first person. I had to get to the bottom to learn who, or what, was answering me.

I’d put it in the opening line, along with when a person can follow up. If nobody is working overnight, offer to take a message and give the office hours.

The text that stopped mid-sentence

One building sent me texts that were cut off mid-sentence. From my phone, I couldn’t tell whether the problem was in the generated answer, a message-length limit, or delivery.

If that happened during a pilot, I’d give the vendor the unfinished text and compare it with their record of what they sent. Then I’d ask how they catch incomplete replies and what happens to a message that fails the check.

A tour the office wasn’t expecting

Two buildings contacted me twice through channels that appeared not to share the conversation. One booked me into a slot nobody was expecting me in.

Of the problems I encountered, the unexpected tour is the one I’d prioritize in a pilot. Follow a test booking from the text confirmation to the assigned agent’s calendar and the prospect’s guest card. Have the agent open those records in the system they normally use. Compare the appointment and status, and look for a second record for the same person.

In a pilot, try rescheduling and cancelling a tour too. If staff have to copy those changes out of the vendor’s dashboard, count that work when you evaluate the product. Include a weekend so you can see how the records look when the office reopens.

The rent quote

A building also quoted me a rent that was incorrect when they sent the message. I’d keep the message and compare it with the price in the property’s system at the time it was sent. A delayed update is one possible explanation to check with the vendor.

When the office follows up, the agent needs to see what the assistant quoted and be able to explain any difference. Include that follow-up in the test instead of stopping when the assistant sends a price.

I cover questions about screening, vouchers, and disability-related requests separately in What Your Leasing AI Is Allowed to Answer by Itself.