Podcast Summary: BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast

Episode: AI Could Take Your Job, But It Can't Take Your Real Estate
Date: October 17, 2025
Hosts: Dave Meyer (A), Henry Washington (C)

Episode Overview

This episode tackles the rapidly changing impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the labor market and personal financial security. With up to 30% of U.S. jobs predicted to be disrupted by AI within five years, hosts Dave Meyer and Henry Washington debate how real estate investing can act as a hedge against career and income uncertainty. They explore why asset ownership—especially real estate—offers safety, the ways AI is already being leveraged in property investing, and the enduring value of human-centered skills in an increasingly automated world. The show aims to reassure current and aspiring real estate investors, spark conversation about AI's double-edged sword, and crowdsource AI tool tips from the BiggerPockets community.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. AI is Accelerating Career Risk—But Not for Real Estate Owners

• Job Displacement Anxiety: Dave opens with recent research showing that 30% of jobs may be affected by AI in five years (00:00), expressing personal anxiety as a data analyst and podcast host—both potentially threatened roles.
  • "My AI anxiety is, like, pretty high." – Dave Meyer (00:45)
  • "You should totally be worried being a data analyst. Yeah. 100%." – Henry Washington (01:03)
• Broad Impact: They discuss how even roles previously thought safe (tech, law, healthcare) are vulnerable to automation and AI-driven change.

2. Financial Security: From Pensions to Assets

• Pension Nostalgia and 401k Anxiety (03:47): The conversation highlights how previous generations could rely on pensions, but most Americans now face retirement insecurity, worsened by automation.
  • "When's the last time you personally ever heard somebody who had a 401k...say I have a comfortable retirement?" – Henry (04:02)
  • "Every person who's retired I know has some level of economic or financial anxiety and uncertainty." – Dave (04:21)
• Asset Ownership as Hedge: Dave argues that in this uncertain environment, owning assets—specifically real estate—feels like the only true financial backbone (04:47).

3. Why Real Estate Stands Out Amidst AI Disruption

• Human Needs and In-Person Dynamics: The hosts dive into the enduring people-centric nature of real estate: humans need places to live, and real estate transactions and management are fundamentally people-facing (05:26).
  • "The value with real estate in terms of AI is it's just way too people facing...you can't take the people out of real estate." – Henry (05:26, 09:58)
• Potential Downside: They acknowledge a risk: If widespread job loss depresses incomes, there could be downward pressure on rents or property prices—but shelter remains non-negotiable (05:45).

4. The Renewed Importance of Trades and Entrepreneurship

• Resurgence of Trade Work: As tech careers face AI risk, trades like plumbing and construction offer above-average earnings and insulation from automation (09:27).
  • "Why would I go get that technology job that could go away in a week when I can go learn how to be a plumber and make 150 to $200,000 a year?" – Henry (09:45)
• Entrepreneurship vs. Employment: Dave stresses that owning a business, particularly in real estate, lets you decide how and when to adopt AI, while employees are vulnerable to corporate cost-cutting (10:30).

5. Enduring Real Estate Strategies in the Age of AI

• Investment Fundamentals Stay Consistent: The core real estate investing model—adding value to a property and monetizing its increased worth—remains unchanged, regardless of new tech (14:49).
  • "The how has always been the same...all AI is going to do for us is help us get that more conveniently." – Henry (14:49)
• Sacrifices of Both Paths: Henry compares the pros/cons of entrepreneurship and traditional employment, highlighting that neither path is easy or secure, but real estate investing offers a degree of control over one’s destiny (13:31).
  • "Entrepreneurship broke is worse than nine to five broke...you have to go make the money." – Henry (13:31)

6. How AI is Already Changing Real Estate Investing

• Automation of Analysis: Standard skills, such as market and deal analysis, are rapidly commoditized by AI-powered tools.
  • "Those are skills that a real estate investor did need to know...it's not a skill anymore. It's a button on a piece of software." – Henry (20:11)
  • "For every property on the MLS...that used to take hours." – Dave (22:44)
• Where to Develop New Skills: Real advantage lies in hands-on value-add skills (construction, renovation), off-market deal-finding, and, crucially, strong human interactions (24:00 - 25:13).
  • "Get good at [human interaction]...that is something I think you can learn a lot." – Dave (25:13)

7. Using AI Tools—Today’s Practical Applications

• Lead Scoring:
  • Henry uses AI-based lead scoring to identify homeowners most likely to sell to investors, increasing marketing efficiency (26:31).
  • "They try to put a score on every house...what is the likelihood...that this particular seller would sell to an investor based on all these data points?" – Henry (27:09)
• AI Cold Calling:
  • Automated bots now call thousands of leads, reviving 'dead' contacts and saving hours of labor:
    • "If AI can call 10,000 people and kick you back five hot leads in a matter of minutes, that's huge." – Henry (28:32)
• Business Task Automation:
  • Henry employs AI phone agents for mundane tasks: setting up utilities, interacting with customer service, freeing up time for higher value activities (29:32).
  • "All I need to do is say, hey, call the city...and it'll just call and have that whole conversation." – Henry (29:32)
• Kubicasa:
  • Both hosts praise Kubicasa, an app that uses AI to generate property floor plans on the fly—key for project planning and contractor communication (30:55).
    • "Kubicasa is awesome...you can do it the day you walk around the property and you already have as built." – Dave (31:08)

8. Community and Ongoing Adaptation

• Learning Together:
  • Both acknowledge that “AI expert” is a moving target. They invite listeners to contribute AI tool tips and usage stories via YouTube and Spotify comments, framing BiggerPockets as a community-learning hub (31:30-32:17).
  • "We want to invite you all in to help us learn about this together and as a community, learn how to both protect yourself against the risks of AI and embrace the good parts." – Dave (32:35)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On shifting job market anxiety:

  • "Ten years later, it's the worst job to have. I just totally got punked on this." – Dave Meyer (02:00)

• On choosing your uncertainty:

  • "You’ve got to choose your hard." – Henry Washington (13:31)

• On the core real estate strategy enduring through change:

  • "The goal has always been...to find something that has opportunity for you to make it more valuable. And then you make it more valuable and you monetize the higher value." – Henry (14:49)

• On AI’s role in business efficiency:

  • "If AI can call 10,000 people and kick you back five hot leads in a matter of minutes, that's huge." – Henry (28:32)

• On where to invest in personal growth:

  • "Get good at [human interaction]. Because I actually think that's going to be one of the things that is rare in the future." – Dave (25:13)

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment / Highlight | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00 | Introduction to AI's threat to employment | | 01:03 | Data analyst jobs at high risk | | 04:21 | Retirement insecurity and end of pensions | | 05:26 | People-centered nature of real estate | | 09:27 | Return to value of the trades | | 10:30 | Need for asset ownership and entrepreneurship | | 13:31 | Sacrifices of career vs. business ownership | | 14:49 | Real estate investment basics remain unchanged | | 20:11 | Automation erasing traditional analysis advantages | | 24:00 | Value-add construction, deal finding, human skills | | 25:13 | The growing importance of interpersonal skills | | 26:31 | Henry’s use of AI for lead scoring and cold calling | | 29:32 | Automating tasks with AI phone agents | | 30:55 | Praise for Kubicasa floorplan AI tool | | 31:30 | Crowd-sourcing AI tools from the BiggerPockets community | | 32:35 | Closing call to adapt to AI and share resources |

Conclusion

The episode positions real estate investing as a solid hedge against career insecurities posed by AI-driven automation. While many jobs are evolving—or disappearing—in the face of new tech, asset ownership, trades, and entrepreneurial initiative offer greater resilience. AI, meanwhile, is a powerful tool for smarter, faster investing, not a substitute for real-world relationships and pragmatic skills. Dave and Henry urge listeners to adapt, embrace lifelong learning, and invest in both people skills and the right technology, creating a robust financial future within (and beyond) real estate.

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