Homes.com introduces a new AI home search powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI

If you’ve ever searched for a home online, you know the trend. Set a price range. Click on several filters. Start a search. Start over. Again and again.

Now imagine skipping all that and saying, “I want a home close to good schools with high ceilings, a short commute and a kitchen that feels modern.” Then the platform responds as if it already understands what is most important to you. Well, that future technology is here.

Homes.com, powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI, has launched Homes AI, a fully integrated home conversation experience. Instead of clicking through a bunch of filters, you talk or type your way to the right home. And this is more than just a new feature. It can completely change the way people search for and eventually buy houses.

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Why AI home search is fixing the old filter problem

For years, home buyers had to search as if they were editing a website. That meant checking boxes, changing filters and running multiple searches just to narrow down what they were really looking for.

“Searching for a home in the past forced prospective buyers to think like a website — checking boxes, changing filters and doing multiple searches to narrow down what they were looking for,” Livia Sonseller, head of Homes.com Product at CoStar Group, told CyberGuy. “We understand that’s not how people work best, so conversational search removes data silos so that all the information, whether it’s about average home prices, schools or in-depth information about a particular home, allows buyers to simply and easily describe what they’re looking for in their own words.”

That line hits home. No one dreams about changing filters. People dream of yards, school districts and kitchens where everyone gathers. With Homes AI, you can explain what is important to you in simple language. The program draws on deep location data, 3D Matterport tours, location information and proprietary school data to guide you.

“Direct conversations with our AI guide, Homes AI, capture nuances in consumer preferences that traditional filters don’t,” Sonseller said. “These nuances are ultimately what lead the buyer to choose the right home, making it feel less like browsing a listing and more like actually seeing a home.”

In other words, this moves the home search from practical to meaningful.

Why AI home search is working right now

AI assistants are already part of everyday life. Millions of people are already talking to productive AI tools every week. That level of comfort is important. As Sonseller explains, “People are getting more used to interacting with AI assistants like ChatGPT. Hundreds of millions of people are using generative AI tools every week, so people are starting to tap into the power of these pre-trained generative transformers (GPT) and large language models (LLMs). The experience we’ve built for the existing HomelessIam site represents HomelessIam’s advanced infrastructure – it represents HomelessIam’s infrastructure which is next.com and taking the heavy lifting of filtering and refining search results from the home buyer to the technology itself.”

That change is huge. The onus shifts from you to the technology. Instead of refining results manually, AI prepares them for you in real time. And it does so within the Homes.com ecosystem. Your data stays within the platform and is not used to train external models.

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Instead of guessing which filters to use, shoppers can ask detailed questions about schools, commute times or nearby trends and get quick answers in one place. (Homes.com)

What surprises consumers about AI home search

The first time someone uses conversational artificial intelligence in a home search, the biggest surprise can be how the person feels. Sponseller said, “I think users will be really surprised at how representative the experience is of working with a very knowledgeable agent. Whether you’re looking for comparable sales, median home prices or the lifestyle of a specific area, buyers can ask almost any home-related question and get an answer quickly, as opposed to referring to multiple sites for all that information.”

Instead of jumping between tabs, you always have one seamless experience. You can ask about travel times, local trends or interior details without starting over. He also pointed out that, “Homes AI is a transparent, fast, data-rich and ad-free tool that takes the consumer experience to the next level.” That non-advertising part is important. It keeps the focus on your goals, not on who paid for the placement.

As the system learns your preferences, it refines recommendations over time, helping you narrow down options with more clarity and confidence. (Homes.com)

What AI home search means for the future of real estate

Sonseller believes that this goes beyond a single platform: “This is bigger than real estate. It’s only a matter of time until we see the negotiation experience expand to all industries, not just real estate portals. Why leave the burden to the buyer if in the end this simplifies the process? Homes.com is the first to fully integrate this way of working on a safe scale, but I think entering the era is a new way of buying.”

And in retrospect? “We fully hope that people will look back at the current state of portals and laugh at how wasteful, manual, and disorganized the process feels.”

He added, “The real estate market has evolved to the point where using filters and requiring multiple sequential searches to capture all the filters will feel as old-fashioned as flipping through the Yellow Pages.” That comparison says it all.

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What does this mean to you?

If you are considering buying a home in the next few years, this can make the process much less stressful. Instead of endlessly scrolling and adjusting filters, you can simply define what is important to you. The system performs the filtering. It narrows down the list based on your actual priorities, not just basic checkboxes. That means you can visit fewer homes that miss the mark. You can see the red flags ahead. You may feel even more prepared before you walk through the front door. In a market where every decision matters, having clear information up front can make a real difference.

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Kurt’s priority is taking

Buying a home is a big deal. It’s emotional. It’s expensive. And it can feel overwhelming quickly. For years, online search tools have been helpful, but they’ve also made you do a lot of work. You had to adjust the filters, run the search and track what was important. AI home search is changing that dynamic. You explain what you want. Technology handles the sorting. Over time, it even remembers your priorities. That would mean fewer wasted shows. A few surprises. More confidence before you enter the house.

If this is where home search is headed, will you trust a system that learns your preferences, or will you still want full control of every filter? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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