Raised in Queens, Matthew Schnepf has been an agent with Coldwell Banker American Homes in New York for the past 12 years. Ever since becoming a real estate agent, technology has taken on the role of Matthew's personal assistant. He has enabled DeltaNET to streamline his business for the past five years. More recently, he has been employing AI tools such as Claude and ChatGPT to assist with tasks like data analysis, graphic design, and photo editing.

Motivated by Personal Experience

Matthew was motivated to enter the real estate industry because his parents were deeply affected by the 2008 financial crisis, which had a significant impact on the real estate market. Despite seemingly having a trusted real estate agent and mortgage lender, their mortgage payments increased from $2,200 a month to $4,800 a month a few years after refinancing, due to signing up for an adjustable-rate mortgage. This resulted in a 10-year legal battle and fight to keep their home.

"I remember the despair and sadness of just watching them struggle, fight, and try to keep their home," says Matthew.

This experience led Matthew to become a real estate agent whom buyers and sellers can trust to look out for their best interests and prevent similar situations from occurring.

"I said to myself, 'I want to know why this happened, I want to understand how this business works, and I want to make sure that I can educate the people I love and prevent this from happening to others," he recalls.

Construction Experience Comes in Handy

Before obtaining his real estate license, Matthew worked with contractors, providing their customers with project estimates. This experience provided him with a unique perspective that greatly benefits his real estate clients today. His experience is particularly helpful to buyers of new construction or newly renovated properties, as he is better equipped to spot the difference in quality among work and materials.

"When I see a house, the first thing I look for is quality," says Matthew. "I've seen jobs where they charge $25,000 and then use 99-cent material, which looks great for about three weeks, but then it slowly starts to fall apart. I know that to the untrained eye or first-time home buyer, a young couple, they're not looking at that. They're looking at shiny things, and they feel the ambiance, but they don't realize that in a few weeks or a few months that that's all going to start falling apart."

Matthew's experience in construction also comes in handy when he is selling a home, as he can better highlight the home's quality and features.

"When I'm selling a home, I notice the quality of the home that I'm putting on the market, and I'll accentuate it," he explains. "Someone will have a fully redone kitchen, and I'll notice the materials. I'll make sure to highlight the stonework or similar features."

A Power User of the DeltaNET Platform

Matthew believes that to be successful in real estate, you not only need to provide excellent service to clients but also have a reliable and organized system in place to make your workflow more efficient and connect with more customers in a short amount of time. For him, this system lies in the DeltaNET all-in-one platform. He appreciates the automated features and how the CRM streamlines the process of targeting specific customer groups.

"DeltaNET is great," says Matthew. "You can log in after receiving a new listing and simultaneously send out an email blast to agents, like, 'Hey guys, I have this new listing. Please come and bring your buyers.' Alternatively, you can send an email blast to a specific set of buyers, such as those looking in Queens. And it's all done in just a couple of simple clicks."

He frequently uses Delta Create to design materials, such as postcards and flyers, which he then mails or distributes when door-knocking in a local neighborhood.

"Before DeltaNET, I was using Microsoft Paint to design these things, and they looked okay, but with the integrations in DeltaNET, everything is quite simple; you can essentially instruct the AI to design it in a certain way, and it does it very quickly. It's intelligent, obviously, and it understands what you're getting at. The ability to create on demand saves me hours every day."

Matthew also utilizes the data available in DeltaNET to make his grassroots efforts far more efficient and cost-effective.

"With the data available through DeltaNET, I no longer have to waste time knocking on 500 doors, as we know they're tenant-occupied," he explains. "I also avoid wasting $500 a month sending postcards to doors that won't reach the actual homeowner."

While technology is a major player in Matthew's business operations, he doesn't spend all his time on his computer. Rather, he has established a system that complements his numerous non-digital marketing efforts, like door-knocking. And DeltaNET is the backbone of that system, offering him everything he needs.

"DeltaNET is a one-stop shop," he says." It's where you keep all your databases. It's where you touch all your databases. It's where you market yourself. It's where you learn. Everything you need is already in there."

Implementing AI Tools Into His Workflow

Lately, Matthew has been keeping up with the newest AI platforms to hit the market and employing them for various small but meaningful tasks.

"I use AI for everything," says Matthew. "I use it for my social media posts, my 'just-listed' posts, and my 'monthly recap' posts. I use it for my photo editing and video editing. If I have photos that need some touch-ups, perhaps the lighting needs improvement or a room needs to be decluttered, I will do that with AI."

When it comes to editing photos and videos, ChatGPT is Matthew's go-to: "For me, ChatGPT is the best for photo editing, not just because the photo quality is excellent, but also, I find that it follows your instructions better," he explains.

Although he finds ChatGPT to be the best tool for content creation, he believes that other tools have their own strengths. For example, he uses Claude for information analysis.

"I think Claude works better for analyzing data and information," he says. "So I'll use Claude to help me with tasks like analyzing inspection reports."

How to Get Started With AI

Matthew's advice for real estate agents just getting started with AI is to start small, use it for just one task, and then expand from there. He recalls first getting acquainted with AI by using it to create his social media posts in DeltaNET.

"If you're just getting started with AI, you have to take the easiest route until you're really aware of how it operates," he says. "So, what I would do when I first started was every time I got a new listing, I would give that MLS number to DeltaNET, and I would just let it create everything. Let it create your 'just-listed' banner post on social media, and don't nitpick it. Just leave it. Sometimes perfection is the enemy of good. We waste so much time being like, 'Well, I don't like that color.' Remember that AI is there to save you time."

Matthew advises new agents to utilize AI initially to establish a plan: "If it's your first year in real estate and you want to maximize it to the best of your abilities, and earn as much income and help as many people as you can, you first need to enter all the people you have in your life — friends, family, former coworkers — and then let AI create a structure for you for marketing to these individuals," he says.

He also recommends using it first to create some of those initial marketing materials to help get your business off the ground.

"Allow AI to create flyers for you to market yourself in a neighborhood," says Matthew. "You can also use it to help you create 'Welcome to the neighborhood' posts like, 'Hey, I'm a new agent in your area.'"

Matthew ultimately feels that, sooner or later, any agent who isn't using AI will struggle to be successful in the business.

He quotes Mark Cuban, saying, "In the future, there's going to be two people: those who understand how to use AI and everyone else." Matthew continues with, "So, you're not going to avoid it if you think you're going to get away with it. You will just get left in the dust as other agents implement it in their business."

Trusted Service, Smarter Systems

Matthew's day-one mission of being someone buyers, sellers, and homeowners can trust to guide them hasn't been lost on him in the 12 years he's been in real estate sales. He holds a strong reputation for being both knowledgeable and reliable. Even with constant industry headwinds, Matthew continues to run his business with honesty and integrity.

While Matthew's busy going above and beyond for his clients, he can rely on his co-pilot, DeltaNET, and AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude, to keep the engine running. Instead of wasting time on tasks like sending emails, designing flyers, or knocking on the doors of tenant-occupied homes, he can run his real estate business with confidence. Just as Matthew's clients can trust him with the biggest purchase of their lives, he can trust these highly intelligent systems to deliver improved efficiency, quality leads, and even cost savings.

To learn more or get in touch with Matthew Schnepf, visit his website Mattsellsnewyork.com.