AI in the Home Buying Process: What Works, What Doesn't, and When to Call an Expert

20 Apr 2026 · 46 min · 20 chapters

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In short

Using generative AI (especially Claude) alongside human professionals during buying and selling a home—what it helps with, what it can get wrong, and when to rely on experts.

Guests/backgrounds

Cody Goff, NerdWallet “data expert,” shares his personal experience using Claude while selling a home and buying another in Rockford, Illinois. Kate Wood, NerdWallet mortgage writer and housing expert, provides counterpoints and explains mortgage mechanics.

Key claims

AI is useful for “order of operations,” organizing decisions, drafting/toning messages to agents, and translating your priorities into neighborhood/house evaluation questions. AI is less reliable for numbers (e.g., affordability) and for complex financing recommendations. Contingent offers and timing are market-dependent; AI may understate major risks.

Notable examples

Claude suggested options like contingent offers, bridge loans, and mortgage recasts; Cody found lenders pushed recast instead of bridge loan. Claude helped simplify mortgage-application questions via screenshots, but undersold the con of sale contingencies. AI was used to assess walkability and kid-friendly neighborhood signals (e.g., bikes/toys), not to directly search listings. NerdWallet’s 2026 Home Buyer Report: 48% of prospective buyers plan to use AI; top uses include estimating costs (27%) and visualizing renovations (25%).

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Spending Money with a Decade to Live

3:41 to 5:24

Elizabeth and Sean discuss how they would spend their money if given a decade to live.

“Okay, Sean, I love asking people this question.”

Choosing Between Windfalls

5:25 to 6:39

A conversation about choosing between a one-time large windfall or smaller yearly payments.

“Mine are really would you rathers because I love this kind of question.”

Handling Job Loss and Debt

6:40 to 8:01

Sean discusses strategies for managing finances after job loss and handling credit card debt.

“$100 ,000, you could invest a good chunk of that, have it growing over time, also enjoy some now.”

Social Spending During Financial Hardships

8:02 to 8:59

Discussing how to balance social activities and financial responsibilities when facing tough situations.

“And it sounds like a financial advisor wrote that.”

Lending Money to Family

9:00 to 11:24

Exploring the complexities of lending money to family members and the potential consequences.

“You make losing your job and going into debt sound so romantic.”

Asking for Help vs. High-Interest Loans

11:25 to 14:01

Discussion on the dilemma between asking friends for money or taking out high-interest loans.

“So I would probably help them explore other options.”

Navigating Personal Financial Relationships

14:01 to 16:40

The discussion revolves around the complexities of lending money to friends and maintaining relationships.

“But the trust wasn't there because we didn't have that type of relationship.”

Planning for Retirement Amid Market Uncertainty

16:41 to 18:30

Exploring the significance of retirement plans and what to consider when faced with market fluctuations.

“But first listeners, you know what's up.”

Emotional and Financial Considerations of Inheritance

18:31 to 21:00

Discussing the emotional weight of leaving an inheritance versus enjoying life savings.

“pursuant to license from MasterCard International Incorporated.”

Using AI in the Home Buying Process

22:51 to 26:32

A discussion on the pros and cons of using AI tools in buying and selling homes, featuring insights from Cody.

“So I just didn't know the order of operations.”
Show all 20 chapters

Challenges of Selling and Buying Simultaneously

26:33 to 28:04

Cody shares his unique situation of managing the sale and purchase of homes simultaneously and how AI plays a role.

“I put in, you know, how much I was wanting to borrow, you know, what all the numbers and everything.”

Assessing AI's Recommendations on Financing

28:04 to 29:05

Explore how AI suggestions can sometimes overlook critical cons in home buying.

“And it was just like, what do you need to do or not need to do?”

Navigating the Home Buying Process with AI

29:05 to 30:56

Understand the value of using AI to analyze personal home buying scenarios.

“And I'm like, no, like, first of all, I'm moving, I'm moving 75 miles west.”

Understanding Mortgage Options: Recast vs. Bridge Loan

30:56 to 33:17

Learn the differences and implications of mortgage recasts and bridge loans.

“So Kate, Cody has said that Claude was helpful in helping him find a listing agent and also fill out those mortgage applications, which I would think are very time consuming things to do.”

AI's Limitations in Home Buying Advice

33:17 to 35:55

Discover the importance of user input and critical thinking when using AI for home buying guidance.

“And essentially, they need the money from the sale of the first home to buy the second home.”

Assessing Neighborhoods with AI Tools

35:55 to 39:29

Explore how AI can assist in evaluating the suitability of neighborhoods for families.

“Like you do, as a user, really need to know all the information that you're going to give it to help it make an informed decision for what to give you.”

Best Practices for Using AI in Home Buying

39:29 to 42:00

Identify the effective and ineffective uses of AI in the home buying process.

“I know some people sometimes have issues with broken links, for example.”

Navigating Life Decisions in Home Buying

42:00 to 42:59

Understand the importance of discussing life goals before making a home purchase.

“That's something like maybe talk to human people about because this is really like a capital C commitment, right?”

The Role of AI in Home Buying Trends

43:00 to 44:16

Explore how people are incorporating AI into the home buying and selling processes.

“People are always trying to figure out ways to sell without a real estate agent for sale by owner or FISBO is a whole thing.”

Personal Stories and Lessons in Home Buying

44:17 to 45:52

Learn from personal anecdotes about navigating home buying challenges and the importance of human advice.

“It's a little, yeah, that one definitely raises some flags.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00Elizabeth Ayoola:Today's episode is sponsored by Spectrum Business. Picture this, you're running a business and the internet drops during business hours. Your to-do list instantly becomes one, panic. Two, stare at the router like you're negotiating with it. And three, start offering customers a brief moment of mindfulness while the checkout screen loads. For business owners, being connected isn't a perk. It's how you take payments, talk to clients, and keep things moving. Spectrum Business keeps businesses connected seamlessly with fast, reliable internet and advanced Wi-Fi, plus phone, TV and mobile services if you need them.

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0:44Elizabeth Ayoola:Our colleague Carrie is a Spectrum customer, shout out to our social media team. And she told us that she chose Spectrum because people online kept recommending it as a reliable and affordable option for internet and phone service. Carrie told us she was actually a little hesitant to switch at first because she'd been using a different service for a while. But after a year with Spectrum, she's had a really good experience. Her phone gets strong, reliable service and it automatically connects to Spectrum Wi-Fi everywhere. Join the millions who rely on Spectrum Business. Visit spectrum.com slash business to learn more.

1:14Elizabeth Ayoola:One more time, that's spectrum.com slash business. Restrictions apply. Service is not available in all areas. The following is a paid sponsorship not an endorsement by NerdWallet's editorial team. Today's episode is sponsored by Bilt. You've heard me talk about Bilt as the loyalty program that lets you earn points on rent wherever you live. And they just leveled up even more. As of 2026, renters and homeowners can also earn up to 1.25x points on their housing payments. This is thanks to Bilt's three new credit cards, the Palladium card, Obsidian card, and Blue card. All three turn your housing payments, rent or mortgage into flexible rewards, so you can choose the card that fits your lifestyle without missing out on points and exclusive benefits.

1:59Elizabeth Ayoola:Built points can be redeemed at top airlines and hotels, Amazon.com purchases, future rent payments and more. Built points have also been ranked by top publications as the industry's most valuable point currency. Your housing payment is most likely your biggest expense. Make it your most rewarding. Find the card that fits your lifestyle and apply today at joinbuilt.com slash smartmoney. That's J-O-I-N-B-I-L-T dot com slash smartmoney. Make sure to use our URL so they know we sent you. Terms and limitations apply. Subject to approval and eligibility, Built cards are issued by Column N.A., member FDIC, pursuant to license from MasterCard International Incorporated.

2:43Life is all about decisions, and we are all about financial decisions. So this episode, we're going to see what each of us would do in different scenarios.

2:54Elizabeth Ayoola:Welcome to NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast, where you send us your money questions and we answer them with the help of our genius nerds. I am Elizabeth Ayola. And I'm Sean Piles. This episode, we're going to discuss how AI might be able to help you in the home buying process or not. But before that, we are bringing you live from Scottsdale a fun segment where me and Sean ask each other what we would do in some bizarre, some not so bizarre financial scenarios. All situations that could actually happen because life is bizarre. Well, some of them I hope they happen, especially with the one where I win like$100 ,000 or something.

3:31Elizabeth Ayoola:Don't spoil anything. Some of them I hope really don't happen because Elizabeth was getting grim with her scenarios. Yeah, I just wanted to put you in a tough spot, Sean. I do love you, though. Thank you. Well, let's do it. Okay, let's start. Okay, Sean, I love asking people this question. If you had a decade to live, how would you spend your money? Well, first of all, I really hope I have more than 10 years to live. Me too. I'm hoping for about 110 more. As we know, I want to live forever. Here we go. But if I only had 10 years to live, I would spend my money on things that brought fulfillment to my life, fulfillment to the life of those that I love, and hopefully the world around me.

4:07I'm going to be doing some traveling. I'm going to be spending a lot of money on my garden. I might do some really irresponsible things like rack up a whole bunch of debt I have no intention of paying off because who cares? But if you have 10 years left to live, I do that towards the end. That's my final year. I'm going to go ham and just be totally reckless because YOLO.

4:25Elizabeth Ayoola:Oh my God. I've never thought about that. What if when I am on my deathbed or let's say, heavens forbid, I get terminal illness. What if I just, you know, max out my credit card? I've never done that before. The money you owe will be taken from the value of your estate because creditors are first in line when you die. So just know that. But, you know, we can figure these things out later. And this is not financial advice, people. What if I hide my money in an estate? We're going to call up some lawyers and figure this out. OK, sorry. I derailed your answer. OK, so I have one follow up based on that, Sean.

4:57Elizabeth Ayoola:Would you be living your life, aside from the credit card debt, any differently than what you're doing now? Yeah, I wouldn't be working. Love you. but I think I would really try to spend my time in ways that bring as much value as I can while also realizing sometimes you just got to rot in bed even if you only have 10 years left to live. We love a good bed rot and I'm bed rotting whether I got one year, 10, 100. We're doing that at least once a month, okay? It's your life well spent, right? That's right. Okay, so that's what I would do. Now I'm going to turn to my scenarios for you. Mine are really would you rathers because I love this kind of question.

5:28So Elizabeth, would you rather receive a$100 ,000 windfall one time or a$5 ,000 windfall every year for the rest of your life?

5:37Elizabeth Ayoola:I feel like this question is really going to, or the way I answer it, is really going to embody my values. And I'm taking the$100K. I'm taking the$100K because tomorrow is not promised. I don't know if I'm going to live, you know, five years, 10 years, as I put in your scenarios, or eight years. So I would take the$100K now and I would do what I could with it now. Do you want to know what I would do with my 100k? Please, yes. Hmm, if I got 100k right now, I'm taking myself on a lavish trip to somewhere on my bucket list, very likely Japan, as I've mentioned to you before, or Thailand, or I've been wanting to do an Africa tour, actually.

6:19Elizabeth Ayoola:So I've been wanting to go to the safaris in Kenya, South Africa. Maybe you have multiple vacations. You have a good point, because why am I having a scarcity mindset? I have 100k. So maybe I have multiple vacations. Of course, I'd like to retire early. Some is going towards my fire goal. I'm going to give some away. And I'm going to buy myself something nice too, like a new bracelet. But yeah, saving and spending. Yeah, that's the smart decision. Because if you think about it,$5 ,000 today is not going to be worth a whole lot 50 years from now. No. $100 ,000, you could invest a good chunk of that, have it growing over time, also enjoy some now.

6:48So I agree with that decision.

6:50Elizabeth Ayoola:Thank you. Which one should I give you next, Sean? Give me a hard one. Okay. You lose your job. Knocking on wood here. You're not losing your job, Sean. But in this scenario, you lose your job. You have one month of emergency savings only. $10 ,000 in high interest credit card debt. Let's say the interest rate is like 27 percent. And you have a mortgage. What is your next move? Before I have a panic attack, I'm going to try to calm myself down and realize that there are paths forward when things even seem really dire like that. but I'm going to try to cut my expenses as much as I can. And so for things like my credit card debt, I'm going to call up my creditor and say, hey, I'm in a really tough situation.

7:31I just lost my job. Can I go on a hardship program? Can you cut my interest rate for a period of time? Can I cut my monthly payment? What options do I have? Same for my mortgage. See what you can do to minimize your expenses so that you can actually hold on to as much liquid cash as you can because you need that to cover certain expenses, right? So try to get through what you can with the resources you have and also reach out to your network immediately and try to find another job. That's what I'm going to do. And just try to grit and bear it, I guess.

8:01Elizabeth Ayoola:That is very clever. And it sounds like a financial advisor wrote that. Do you think a CFP helped you with that response? I didn't write it. I just thought it up on the spot. I could see your knowledge shining there. But yeah, those are all great things to do. I love, especially the first point of calling all your creditors and letting them know your situation so that hopefully you can get some grace there. Even your utility companies, you might be able to get a cut on your gas bill, your water bill, maybe even your internet. You don't know unless you call. That's right. I do have to ask though, because you said you tried to cut down on spending money on silly things.

8:31Elizabeth Ayoola:What are one of the first silly things that you are gonna cut out of your budget? This isn't silly because I take it seriously and I cherish it, but I go out to eat a lot with my friends. It's like our main social thing and it gets expensive, but we love doing it. We have a great time together. I could save a lot of money each month if I wasn't doing that every week or multiple times a week. Oh, no. But then what would you replace that with? Because it brings you joy. I'll have my friends come over. We'll do a little potluck maybe. The weather's getting nice. So we'll just go for a walk in a park in Portland because it's so beautiful there.

9:01Elizabeth Ayoola:Wow. You make losing your job and going into debt sound so romantic. Okay. So you're up next. I have another would you rather. Would you rather be a millionaire driving a Camry or a Thousandare driving a Mercedes? That's easy. A millionaire driving a Camry. And, you know, I've been driven some very ricky-dicky cars. Well, I've only driven two, really. I've only ever had two cars in my life. My first one, I think I've told you, it used to shake when I was driving on the highway, just shaking out of control. Kind of scary? Yeah. It got me from point A to B. And my former stepmom sold it to me for$2 ,000.

9:36Elizabeth Ayoola:so I bought it cash I did not have a car note that was great and then you know I had a little lifestyle creep I got a better job yeah and I thought hey maybe it's time to get a better car so I got a Honda still not a super luxury car but I it's luxury enough for where I was slash am but anyway all that said I do not feel like even if I was a millionaire like I necessarily need to have a luxury car so I'd rather have all that money in the bank be able to spend it on what I want to spend it on or invested and drive the Camry. I don't need to wear my money is what I'm saying. And well, here's what I'm thinking too.

10:08You mentioned in the past how you use your car as your wallet. So even though you're driving a Camry, it's kind of like you're driving a Mercedes because you have a million dollars in there.

10:17Elizabeth Ayoola:Exactly, Sean. See, this is why you're my person. I got you. Yes, exactly. Okay. So let's see what scenario I have for you. This is a good one. So So a close family member is about to lose their home if they don't pay their mortgage and they ask you for help. Now they're behind$5 ,000. You have enough. You're doing well financially. You have enough saved in your emergency fund. Let's say you have double or triple that amount. So$15 ,000 put aside and everything is in order for you. What do you say? Are you going to lend them the$5 ,000? How much do I trust this family member? Okay. There are so many other questions I have because it really is such an individual person by person situation where if I really know this family member, I know that they just had a hard time recently and they're not going to be able to pay me back for maybe six months to a year, but they're going to get back on their feet.

11:10I probably would. But if it's someone I know who's had just years and years of financial mismanagement, I don't really trust them long term. I might try to help them out in some way, but I also don't want to perpetuate bad behaviors, nor do I want them to lose their house. So I would probably help them explore other options. Can they go on a hardship plan with their mortgage? What can they do besides just get my liquid cash that they maybe wouldn't use in the most responsible way? Or if I gave them money, it would come with some strings attached. Which gets complicated because I would probably want to say, hey, if I'm giving you this, we need to work out a plan to get you back on your feet.

11:47And if I don't see that you're doing these things, then we're going to have some problems. But that can create a lot of interpersonal conflict, which I don't want.

11:54Elizabeth Ayoola:It can. Do you agree with the approach of having maybe like a written agreement or a contract where they agree that they're going to pay you back, something legally binding in place? Yeah, if it would be legally binding, sure. But sometimes these agreements are worth as much as the paper that they're on because a lot of people don't end up honoring them anyway. I wouldn't want it to come down to that. I think it would be nice to have almost more for the person who I'm giving the money to so they might feel some sense of obligation because of it. I'm not going to take them to small claims court because they don't have any money anyway.

12:24Elizabeth Ayoola:Oh, man, you brought up a good point. They ain't got no money anyway. Well, Sean, okay, so I get your POV. Basically, it depends on their financial situation and how trustworthy they are on if you're going to borrow their money and how much. I'd love to help them. I want to make sure it's not going to just kick the can down the road. Yeah. I know a lot of people struggle with that. So I definitely wanted to put that scenario out there. Well, I have a similar question for you, actually. Would you rather ask your friends for money or take out a loan that has an interest rate of 30 %? And let's say we're talking about$10 ,000.

12:55Elizabeth Ayoola:That's a tough one because I am someone who struggles to ask for help. I cannot remember the last time I've asked someone to borrow money. However, 30 % is crazy. That's like a payday loan. That'd be a good payday loan, actually. And I ain't too proud to beg, okay? So I'm going to ask my loved ones. To your point, I am a trustworthy person. I'm not someone who asks often. I'm perceived as generally responsible. So I know that someone would be happy, hopefully, to help me. And I hate owing people money. So I would pay it back as soon as possible. But I'm going to ask. Yeah. A lot of these interpersonal lending questions come down to goodwill and trust.

13:33And can you be relied on? Do you actually have the capital or will you have it soon? How well do I know you? All these different things.

13:39Elizabeth Ayoola:Yeah. And that reminds me, actually, I had someone ask me not so long ago, they were about to lose their home and they came, but I didn't know them that well and asked me if I could loan them a couple of thousands of dollars. And this was actually a very interesting scenario because they helped me to find an apartment at one point. So they knew my financial situation. So it almost made me feel like, do you know that I could potentially afford to give it to you? and that's why you're asking me. But the trust wasn't there because we didn't have that type of relationship. So unfortunately, you know, I wasn't able to help.

14:11How did you say no? And do you think it affected your relationship?

14:14Elizabeth Ayoola:I was honest. I said, you know, at the time, I was in private school as well. And my philosophy is I don't borrow what I can't afford not to get back. And I can't afford not to get back a couple thousand dollars. So I really like that. So you're not willing to give out any money that you just wouldn't be able to get by if you didn't have that, right? Yes, that's right. So I pretend it's a gift in my mind. If I get it back, great. But then I'm not going to be like crying in the corner if I don't get it back because I already put my mind that I may not get this money back. And that's so smart because, yes, you want to help your friends.

14:39You want to help people in your community. But at the end of the day, you got to make sure that you are in good shape.

14:42Elizabeth Ayoola:That's right. So I just basically told him it's not something I could afford at the moment. And, you know, we're still cool. So it didn't negatively impact the friendship. My last one for you, Sean, you are one year away from retirement. Sounds good. All right. I'm ready for it. I have learned recently that you would like to retire at the age of 51. So you're 50 years old. You got all your accounts in order. You've saved your money. and then the stock market crashes. What are you going to do? I'm going to talk with my financial advisor and see how this is going to change my forecast long term, because sometimes if you have a big crash right before retirement, you actually might want to extend your working years a little longer for things to recover.

15:19It depends on how much I have in the bank. I would love to continue my plan to retire, but I'm not going to sacrifice my long-term retirement for an immediate gain of just retiring the year that I want to, which is admittedly a little arbitrary.

15:32Elizabeth Ayoola:Let's say you've already quit your job because you're retiring next year and maybe you just said, hey, I'm throwing in this towel a year earlier. What career are you going to go back into at 50? Whatever makes me the most money. For the least amount of work. Yeah. At that point, it's all about the Benjamins baby. Yes. Okay. Well, my final question for you, and I think I know the answer to this one. Would you rather leave an inheritance to your loved ones or spend all of your money before you die? I have to leave something to my baby. I love him so much. And I would, why am I getting emotional?

16:02Elizabeth Ayoola:I would hate, why am I so softy to leave him with nothing? She's your baby, of course. I would absolutely leave him with something. Yeah. Well, you already have 529. You're doing great. Thank you. Didn't mean to make you cry, Elizabeth. I'm so sorry. I'm so softy. Thank you. You're going to make me cry. Okay. Okay. Let's bring it back up. Okay. So yes, I'm leaving my baby some money, but I'm also going to be bawling out because I have worked hard for so many years and saved, and I'm going to enjoy my money, at least most of it. Ball out with your baby. Go on some trips. That's right. All right.

16:34Elizabeth Ayoola:I did not expect to be getting all soppy there, Sean. But we're going to move along now and we are going to be discussing whether it makes sense to use AI for the home buying process or a real person, or maybe you can use both. But first listeners, you know what's up. This is a show that runs on your money questions, on your financial decisions. So send your money questions our way. Hit us up on the Nerd Hotline, you can text us or leave us a voicemail at 901-730-6373. It's 901-730-NERD. You can also email us at podcast at nerdwallet.com or leave us a comment on Spotify or YouTube. We're back in a minute.

17:09Elizabeth Ayoola:Stay with us.

17:15The following is a paid sponsorship, not an endorsement by NerdWallet's editorial team. Today's episode is sponsored by BILT.

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17:21Elizabeth Ayoola:You've heard me talk about BILT as the loyalty program that lets you earn points on rent wherever you live. And they just leveled up even more. As of 2026, renters and homeowners can also earn up to 1.25x points on their housing payments. This is thanks to BILT's three new credit cards. The Palladium card, Obsidian card, and Blue card. All three turn your housing payments, rent, or mortgage into flexible rewards. so you can choose the card that fits your lifestyle without missing out on points and exclusive benefits. Built points can be redeemed at top airlines and hotels, Amazon.com purchases, future rent payments, and more.

18:01Elizabeth Ayoola:Built points have also been ranked by top publications as the industry's most valuable point currency. Your housing payment is most likely your biggest expense. Make it your most rewarding. Find the card that fits your lifestyle and apply today at joinbuilt.com slash smartmoney. That's J-O-I-N-B-I-L-T dot com slash smart money. Make sure to use our URL so they know we sent you. Terms and limitations apply. Subject to approval and eligibility. Built cards are issued by Column N.A., member FDIC, pursuant to license from MasterCard International Incorporated. This episode is brought to you by Indeed.

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19:07Elizabeth Ayoola:We're back and answering your money questions. Today, we're gonna be talking about the use of AI versus a real person in the home buying process. Now, we wanted today's episode to be a little bit more interactive, so we have our data expert on smart money, Cody Goff, here to talk through his use of AI while buying his home. And we're recording live in our studio in Scottsdale, Arizona with Cody, and we're also joined via the internet on a laptop here by NerdWallet mortgage writer Kate Wood. So you'll see us looking at this laptop if you are viewing us on YouTube. So welcome to Smart Money, Cody.

19:43Elizabeth Ayoola:Thank you, Elizabeth. And welcome, Kate. Thanks for hanging out without me. We'll get you here next time, Kate. Yeah. So, Cody, you use the chat tool, AI chat tool, Claude, in your home buying journey, or you're still using it because you haven't totally sorted everything out yet. And have you used Claude before? What was your relationship to it? I use Claude literally all the time. Yeah. Like literally for work, for personal projects. It's everything. Okay. And what about Claude makes it your go-to AI tool versus ChatGPT or Gemini or any other option that you have? I've used all three. I started on ChatGPT.

20:15I tried Gemini. I'm not going to say it told me exactly what I wanted to hear. As they often do, let's say that. Right. It wasn't because it was sycophantic. It just broke things down in a way that the information was digestible. I feel like sometimes with ChatGPT, it just gives you a laundry list of information. And Claude really would just be like, yeah, here's what's actually happening. Here's what you should pay attention to in its answers. So I just found it. You're a fan of the syntax. A fan of the syntax. And then also you hear a lot about the other capabilities, which we won't get into.

20:43But there's some other cool capabilities. I'll admit I have not used Claude. But I've heard amazing things in that it is easier to have a full conversation with it. Elizabeth, Kate, have either of you used Claude?

20:52Elizabeth Ayoola:I have not used Claude specifically. I have, thanks to a newsletter that I subscribe to. And I find, based on my research, that Claude is a little bit more ethical than ChatGPT. So that is why I switched over to Claude. So I have used it before. So today we're going to go through some of the prompts you, Cody, use during your home buying process and kind of weigh out the pros and cons of using generative AI during the home buying process. I also want to add for context that Cody is doing a unique thing. Well, maybe it's not that unique, but unique to me. He is trying to sell his home and also buy another home.

21:26Elizabeth Ayoola:So he's using generative AI for that entire process. Now, Kate, what are your thoughts on using generative AI for the home buying process, whether you're selling or buying? I'm not a massive fan of AI for anything. Like I'm the opposite of an AI evangelist. I'm wary of it for all of the reasons. And at this point, pretty much accept it as a necessary evil. But I feel like, you know, with the home buying process, as with anything, to what extent AI is helpful is going to depend on, you know, how you use it, right? Are you just, you know, asking questions and accepting what it tells you at face value?

21:58Like, that's a great idea. Probably not great, right? But if you're using it as a resource rather than a source of truth, like, yeah, absolutely. there are parts of the process that it'll smooth out and probably make faster.

22:08Elizabeth Ayoola:Yeah, I'm with you. All right. So let's jump into your prompts, Cody. Can you start by telling us what part of your home buying slash selling process that you did use Claude for? Yeah. So to start, I didn't know where to start. And that was the thing. I bought a home before, but that was pretty clear cut. I had money to make a down payment and then I would buy the house, right? This time it's different because I want to move to the Rockford area in Illinois. It's one of the hottest markets in the country, weirdly, even though it's where I grew up. So that's weird to say. But like there's low inventory and I'm very picky.

22:41So it's going to take me a really long time to find a house I want. But if I put up my house now to sell it and then it sells, then I'm in a lot of trouble because I have two kids and you need somewhere to live. I need somewhere to live. Right. So I just didn't know the order of operations. What are my options? You know, I have a limited amount for a down payment. When do I get a buyer's agent? When do I get a seller's agent? What are my financing options? And so at the beginning, I gave Claude kind of all of my financial information. And it was really helpful in being like, okay, here are your options.

23:11You could make a contingent offer. You could get a bridge loan. You could make the initial down payment and then recast your mortgage, which was something I never even heard of before. So that kind of helped me understand the order of operations for things. Okay. And Kate, how do you think Cody did so far in terms of understanding the beginning steps of selling and buying? And what are your thoughts about him not going to a website called nerdwallet.com for that introduction? Yeah, I mean, so it's fun how you, you know, seem to feel about my literal job. But yeah, like you absolutely could have found all of this information on the website of the company that you work for, just putting it out there.

23:50That said, you know, buying and selling at the same time is a situation that, you know, plenty of people wind up in because unless you're hanging on to that first home, keeping it as an investment property, you're probably going to be in the position of, okay, I need to like sell one home. I need to get another one. And honestly, even in a slow market, that's a lot to deal with. There's a lot of different pieces going on, a lot of moving parts. And so in a hotter market like where Cody is, you know, honestly, the fact that Claude's even like you can make a contingent offer, it's kind of like, could you?

24:21That said, I think it's interesting, you know, I'm sure we'll get into this later that, you know, Claude was coming back with, OK, here are some of the other options you could do just because it is difficult to make that timing work when you do need a place to live. And particularly, you know, you've got kids. It's not easy to just be like, oh, well, you know, we'll stay there somewhere for a couple weeks. Kate, your note about contingent offers is really interesting because it seems like that's maybe a hole in the information that Cody got. You were told that you could have a contingent offer.

24:50But what I'm hearing is that that can be market specific. It's not so much that it's market specific, but that so in, you know, I'm not personally familiar with Rockford. But based on, you know, what I've read in these chats and what Cody is describing, this is a market where buyers don't have a ton of leverage and sellers are, you know, if someone's listing their home, they're here to sell. In general, kind of across the U.S., because we have seen, you know, really since the pandemic, such a trend toward all cash buyers coming into the market, in general, very well-heeled buyers in the market, having a sale contingency is just not what it used to be.

25:26So a sale contingency is basically you've made an offer on the house and one of the conditions, the contingencies of your offer is, OK, I need to sell my current home in order for this offer to go through, generally because you need the money from that home sale to buy this next house that you're moving into. That's like a super normal thing to need. And at most other times in real estate history would be no big deal. These days, having that contingency on there can potentially be something that a seller is just going to be like, yeah, I don't want to deal with that. Particularly, again, in a hot market where sellers have a lot more leverage than buyers do.

26:05So kind of given what Cody was describing about his market, that sale contingency feels like, you know, if there's a way around it, if you have the means to avoid it, you might kind of want to avoid it. I did use NerdVod for a lot of this. But like genuinely, once I understood a couple of the steps in the process, like where am I going to go to compare mortgage lenders that offer the best interest rates? I don't want this to sound like a NerdWallet commercial, but like it was a no brainer. I went to NerdWallet, right? Like I went to the mortgage lenders. I put in, you know, how much I was wanting to borrow, you know, what all the numbers and everything.

26:39And like I trust NerdWallet to give me that. Like I wouldn't have told that to Claude. And then I'm like, which lenders do you think? and then just trusted what it said, because I just don't think AI has that level of trust yet. And that is a difference, right? Comparing buying and selling agents was something that it did a really good job of doing. And that's something that's really individual and specific. So I said, I'm looking for houses in this range. Help me find a buyer's agent in Rockford who has a record of having bought a bunch of homes like this, right? And works in that area. And then it actually gave me, Claude gave me a couple third-party websites.

27:17So I went to that site. I did ask Claude to help me kind of crunch the data a little bit. So there was a step in there. But again, I didn't just say, hey, Claude, who's the best buying agent in Rockford? It didn't have that kind of objective up-to-date data. That was really helpful. Filling out mortgage applications online was really helpful because I got to the point where it's like, list all your assets. And I'm like, great, this is like a 14 hour project, right? So you had Claude fill out applications for you. I did not have it fill it out, but I would screenshot it and I would say, it's asking me this, what do I do?

27:51And it would say, you know, at this early point in the process, you don't need a line item of every single asset you own. It just basically wants, maybe if you get a gift for it, or maybe like the sale of your home, like two or three things, do that. And so it simplified. And it was just like, what do you need to do or not need to do? I will say again, Yeah, not so helpful. As Kate mentioned, it did caveat that the contingent offer was not great, but it didn't weigh it as heavily as like you would or like an expert would. It said, you know, pros of a contingent offer, X, Y, Z, cons of a contingent offer.

28:23Well, maybe not as competitive. And it's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on. It's a big con. Yeah, it's underselling the con like quite a bit. So I will say, and also it really heavily recommended the bridge loan based on what I read on NerdWallet. I contacted the two mortgage lenders and I explained my situation. Both of them immediately were like, yeah, just recast your mortgage. We offer that. It'll cost you a couple hundred bucks, but that's the obvious route here. So I will say it wasn't so helpful in financing. And then the other thing was, when I was asking it at first about buying and selling agents, it really wanted me to get referrals from either the selling agent I choose or the buying agent who helped me find our home in the Chicago suburbs.

29:11And I'm like, no, like, first of all, I'm moving, I'm moving 75 miles west. So this is like an hour drive. The chances that one of those agents is going to know somebody in the Rockford area are slim. I barely know my seller's agent. I don't know if I can trust them to find somebody that is looking for what I want, right? And they get a commission for that is what I was told by Claude. So I'm like, they have all the incentive to give me somebody very subpar. I want to do this research on my own. So that was, I think, some questionable advice. Yeah, to me, that almost seems like Claude was regurgitating information it read in a blog somewhere.

29:48But that said, it seems like you got a lot of value out of having your personal information in Claude and being able to have it analyze that. How helpful was that versus, you know, Obviously, you wouldn't have that accessible in an article that you're reading. And that's why I turned to Claude first with the order of operation thing, because I wouldn't know how to search. Like, you know, I could I could Google, like, what do I do if I'm buying a home, but I need to buy it, kind of find a house before I sell the house? Like, I just don't know what queries I would have put in exactly. And again, I think that all best information you could find is under wallet.

30:22But where is that packaged? And how many articles do I have to go through to kind of find my exact situation? That's where I think it was helpful, where I could really give it my very specific details, have it give me some guidance, and then use my own critical thinking. Don't just do what it does. Like, you don't just do what AI tells you to do. You have to take it with a grain of salt and think critically and ask it to clarify and say, like, are you sure? and then go to actual resources like NerdWallet that are like thoroughly researched so they can, you know, tell you what to actually do. This gets just the messy thought process that we're all kind of going through and making complicated financial decisions and how Claude and other AI tools are good at helping you kind of parse these things out one step at a time where if you're just putting things in Google, it can just get confusing and you have 12 ,000 tabs open and you don't know what to where.

31:10Elizabeth Ayoola:So Kate, Cody has said that Claude was helpful in helping him find a listing agent and also fill out those mortgage applications, which I would think are very time consuming things to do. So what are your thoughts on him using AI in those ways and him finding, I guess, those to be pros? So I thought it was really interesting, like the mortgage applications example, because that's something where I personally would be wary, simply because AI is not often the best when it comes to numbers or take this number from here, move it over here. But when you describe the sort of screenshot process, I thought that was a really interesting use.

31:45Something that I really enjoyed as well and that I thought was a smart use of AI that you described was having it work on your correspondence with agents and kind of things you were telling them, helping you get the tone right. That's definitely something I use AI for. And I thought that that was really smart since, you know, this is a professional relationship. And even if, you know, in the example of like the buyer's agent that you used to buy your current home, like, yeah, you know the person, but like they're not super close to you. And so kind of like helping you navigate that relationship, I did think was really smart.

32:17The referrals thing, again, like a little weird, feels like it was kind of maybe reading blogs by real estate agents or something like that. Because, yeah, like you said, I mean, if you're moving an hour plus away, like, sure, they might know someone who works out there, but it might be one person. The other thing is that, you know, any real estate agent is going to be heavily incentivized to refer you to someone who works for the same brokerage, or at least for the same company as them, right? So whichever company that you're working with, they're probably gonna refer you to someone else who works with the same company.

32:50So like, yeah, that advice was definitely a little like, to me.

32:53Elizabeth Ayoola:Okay, well now we've looked at the things that Claude has been helpful with. And I know Cody, you touched on a little bit where Claude wasn't so helpful in terms of the cons, in terms of it recommending a bridge loan over a mortgage recast. So before we have you talk about that, Kate, as the housing expert, Can you talk briefly about the differences between a mortgage recast and also a bridge loan? So Claude was giving you a couple of options that people use when they are buying a home and selling a home at the same time. And essentially, they need the money from the sale of the first home to buy the second home.

33:28But that home's not sold yet, right? So we need to figure out a way around that. Bridge loan is a short-term second loan that you take out in order to buy a home, too. And then you basically pay off the bridge loan with the proceeds from home number one. That sounds easy and it's relatively easy, except for the whole part where you're taking out a whole additional mortgage level loan, right? That's also a relatively short term loan, paying that, keeping that until you get that other home sold and then you pay off the bridge loan. So there's kind of a lot of logistics to it and you really need to be quite confident about selling that first home.

34:05The idea with a mortgage recast is that, again, so we're buying home two before we sell home number one. And with home number two, we're just going to kind of take what we can get on this mortgage, right? Because we have a significant debt load. We might not have a ton for a down payment. But then once home number one sells, you're taking a chunk of those proceeds and you're using it to recast the mortgage on home number two. So here's what a recast actually means. So it's not a refinance. It is still the same loan. You're not changing the term. You're not changing the mortgage rate. What you're doing is giving the lender a big chunk of money.

34:41And so if you're like, why have I never heard of a recast? It's the part where you need to give the lender a big chunk of money. This is why this is not something people are just doing whenever. Usually the bare minimum for a recast, you need to give them like 10 grand toward your loan's balance. And you're giving them that as a lump sum. So the lender then re-amortizes the loan using that new lower balance. So even though you're not changing the mortgage interest rate, you're not changing the term, you are going to end up paying less because now you've lowered the principal that much. So there's not a separate loan.

35:11And then the other big perk, which I think Cody already mentioned, is that the fee to recast is usually like a couple hundred dollars. So if you work with a lender who's like, yeah, I'll recast the mortgage, this is something that's pretty doable, but again, not something that a lot of people necessarily know about or have heard of. In AI's defense, part of this may have been user error because when I gave it my finances, I don't think I did make it clear that I had the funds for the down payment I would need for the house we're looking for. Some family is able to lend me money for that in the form of a gift that I can then pay back.

35:44AI didn't have that information. So in fairness to AI, I think it's still valid to say like AI isn't perfect. But I think part of why it isn't perfect is because it is hard to use right in certain ways. Like you do, as a user, really need to know all the information that you're going to give it to help it make an informed decision for what to give you. So I will take some of the blame for what maybe could have been a little more clear.

36:09Elizabeth Ayoola:But I think that's such an important point because sometimes people use AI, again, as the end all. But you still need to do your own research so that you have something to feed it so that it can give you correct answers. Right. So I don't think that you should bypass NerdWallet or other resources. I mean, it could only answer the question as well as you ask the question, right? And sometimes, you know, if it's like buying and selling a home, normal people don't do this constantly. So it's not like, oh, shame. Like, you didn't know what a mortgage recast was. I'm like, I'm probably one of the only people I know in my personal life who knows what a mortgage recast is.

36:43It's not a normal thing to know about. And that's totally fine. We've talked about what got you started in this whole buying-selling process. Where are you now? And are you still using AI to help you along? I am still using AI. I've asked it to be a sounding board, I guess, in terms of like, what are my values? How old are my kids? What do I do with my kids? And Claude has kind of helped me think through it. Like, I'll give it a specific house. I'll give it the Google Maps screenshot. I'll tell it what's nearby. And I'll say, you know, what do you think? And it will say something to me like one time it said, are you walking as a functional thing or are you walking as a recreational thing?

37:21You know, you don't need to be able to walk to the grocery store, right? Maybe if you're just surrounded by forests, that's the right call for you. And then also thinking ahead to when my kids get older, which as a dad is not a thing I ever want to think about because I can relate. My daughter's three and I don't ever want her to change that, but she will. Right. So like, where are they going to want to walk or where are they going to want to get to? Are they going to ride bikes and what's going to be bikeable? And then also it gave me some tips for just like, how do you know if there are kids in the neighborhood?

37:49because right now we have a couple families on our street, but like not many. It's a lot of people whose driveways wind behind their house. And I have not seen my neighbor, literally six years I've lived there. I've seen my neighbor across the street one time. I've seen the person that lives next to them zero times. I don't know who they are. And it's like, you know, Claude says things like, look for bikes, like in people's lawns or whatever, like certain toys or playgrounds. And some of it might sound obvious, but there's little things that you can kind of do to assess a neighborhood's kind of feel a little bit.

38:21Also, I get the feeling that you are a heavy-duty planner. You like to really think things through to an extreme degree. And hearing this, I'm like, let's just wing it sometimes. You never know, right, when you move to a new place or city. I can move into a place and three days later, the neighbors come home from vacation and they have 14 dogs barking and they never shut up. There are houses that I've literally eliminated from my search because I'd pull in, we'd walk up, and there's like four pit bulls in the bay window next door barking from the time we pull up to the time we leave.

38:54Elizabeth Ayoola:And I'm like, I'm not spending the next 30 years dealing with that, you know? I know I did not put as much research in when I was looking for a new place to live, but I'm just thinking about how many hours it takes to figure out stuff like that. Looking in Reddit, Quora for those who use Quora, blog posts, TikTok, just to figure out all these things. And it sounds like, again, you've been able to save a lot of time by using Claude for that purpose too. Maybe. And I do not let it look at listings for me. Like, that's just pointless. If I say, here's my criteria, find me some houses. No. Also, that's the most fun part is looking at all the listings.

39:27That is fun.

39:28Elizabeth Ayoola:Kate, can you speak to it not being good at finding listings? I know some people sometimes have issues with broken links, for example. Actually, I was talking to a colleague of mine about this who had that exact experience with Claude where, you know, she was trying to say, OK, I want it to be, you know, I want this many bedrooms about this price, you know, these neighborhoods in L.A. And it was like, oh, here's this like, you know, lengthy, like a search link, a search looking link in Zillow where it's like, oh, like three bedrooms and this zip code and links are all broken. One of the only working links is to a home in Arkansas.

40:02So, you know, yeah, like not the best with this. And like Sean said, just browsing, you know, just browsing listings is kind of recreational.

40:11Elizabeth Ayoola:All right, Kate. So we have highlighted, thanks to Cody, some areas where AI can be helpful and areas where it can be not so helpful. So for all of the listeners out there or anybody who is thinking about using AI for the home buying process, based on the many steps that it takes to buy or sell a house, where would you say it could be most helpful and where should people take more caution? I do think the idea that Cody was using of saying, okay, look at this house and tell me what you think of it in terms of what's important to me is a pretty smart one. Because you can go on a real estate search website and say, okay, I want this many bedrooms and I want built in after this year and whatever.

40:49But if you've got things that are important to you, like you're like, I want a town that has at least one independent bookstore and I want a sushi place that delivers and I want hiking trails that are no more than a 20 minute drive. It's not finding you specific houses, but it's going to tell you like, OK, this town or this neighborhood could work for you based on these things you like. Or, you know, well, it's got two out of three. Can we negotiate here? So I do think that kind of more personalized, like searching on the metrics that you index on is a really interesting use of AI and something where it could be really helpful in your home search.

41:22And so, Kate, what about where you wouldn't use AI in the home buying and selling process? Anything number related, I'd be a little hesitant with. I tried comparing ChatGBT to our home affordability calculator the other week just because I was curious. But in the end, GBT was telling me I could afford like a way more expensive home than the home affordability calculator was and wasn't really explaining how it got to that higher number. So I don't know. Anything with numbers, I'm just not a super fan of using AI. You know, other things I would say just kind of the emotional aspects of it, like, is this something I'm ready for?

42:01Like, is this where I am in my life? You know that to an extent. That's something like maybe talk to human people about because this is really like a capital C commitment, right? It's a lot to deal with. As we're describing here with, you know, selling your home, right, at the same time as that you're buying another one or when you're looking to buy another one, it's not just a lot to get into. It's also a lot to get back out of, right? So if you're at a point in your life where you're like, I'm not really sure what I want to do next, talk to the people around you. Figure out, hey, what do I want to do?

42:30What would make sense for me? And you know GPT is going to think it's a good idea. Right? Yeah. Someone who will give you some pushback.

42:37Elizabeth Ayoola:Right. I did see an Instagram post the other day while aimlessly scrolling. And it caught my eye because it said someone used AI, ChatGPT, for the whole process of selling their home. And they didn't need an agent. So it was framed as a quote unquote game changer. You are in the housing market. You do this every day. You're the expert. Are there any trends that you're seeing in terms of how people are using AI during the home buying process or selling? People are always trying to figure out ways to sell without a real estate agent for sale by owner or FISBO is a whole thing. I have not heard of just using AI instead of it, although I can already imagine ways that people would try to use AI to just like do the FSBO process, but maybe not seem like it's a for sale by owner home.

43:24But in terms of how people are using AI, as a matter of fact, I do have fairly specific numbers on this because it's something that we asked about in NerdWallet's 2026 Home Buyer Report. So the Home Buyer Report is a big annual report that our data nerds put together, kind of taking the pulse of the housing market. We do this every year, but this was the first year that we asked about AI. And we found that of Americans who are planning to buy a home in the next 12 months, 48 % said they either already have or that they plan to use AI as part of the home buying process. Yeah. So how are they using it?

43:56So the most common way that people said they would use AI were estimating housing costs, those 27%, guiding them in the buying process. So essentially what Cody's talking about was 26%. And then to visualize home designs or renovation was 25%. And that one I like a lot. Just use it for the fun stuff, for sure. Visualizing housing costs raises a flag for me because you just said we shouldn't be relying on numbers from these tools. It's a little, yeah, that one definitely raises some flags. Cody, you're part of the 48 % using these tools. How are you feeling? I feel pretty good. But actually, Kate said something else about talking to people.

44:33and I think that is something that I undervalued going into the whole process. I looked at a house and it had, there were a bunch of houses kind of in a circle with a big shared backyard in the middle. My wife wants to get a dog someday. So she's like, well, you know, we need to figure out where to put the fence. And my mom said, you need to make sure that that's basically allowed, not part of an HOA, but she asked me that because my parents had a next door neighbor who built their house next door and they put in the deed to the house you can't put a playground in the backyard which i didn't know was a thing so that neighbor moved up the hill and now that neighbor can see their old house some people came to buy the house next door and they were outside and my mom walked over she's like oh we'll be your new neighbors blah blah blah and they're like yeah we're just looking at the yard we're gonna put a playground here and my mom goes well you know you you can't do that, right?

45:30And they're like, what do you mean? Well, because the deed says you can't do that. And the person that wrote it is like up the hill. It's not an HOA story, but maybe this group of houses with a big shared backyard has a rule that you can't build fences. Now, I wouldn't have known to ask AI that. I wouldn't have known to ask Nerdball at that. How would I have known that? You need people with some war stories who have bought homes that had crazy things like that. Yes, you need war stories. So I think, you know, for me, I love using AI to augment it. I will always honestly go to NerdWallet for like when the rubber hits the road and I need a lender or somebody like, or I need to calculate how much I can afford.

46:07Yeah. But like talk to people because that's going to give you more information than you've ever like had. By the way, my parents, next door neighbor that wanted to put in the playground, they backed out of buying the house and they sued the people that were selling the house because they didn't know about it. My parents thought the buyer's agent should have known. But anyway, they ended up losing in court and they lost$10 ,000 earnest money and backed out of the deal because they couldn't build the playground. Well, thank you for coming on and talking to us. Keep us posted on how this all goes.

46:38It's the power of podcasts, Sean. I'm bullish. I'm bullish on podcasts. You know, me too.

46:44Elizabeth Ayoola:And thank you, Kate Wood. Or is this AI? Are you really Kate? I mean, I'm on a screen. So have you been keeping track of how many fingers I have and how often I blame? We can't see your hands. Okay, there we go. Thank you so much, Kate. Thank you, Kate. And that's all we have for this episode. Remember, listener, to send us your money questions. Don't send them to ChatGPT before you turn to us. You can call us or text us on the Nerd Hotline at 901-730-6373. That's 901-730-NERD. You can also email us your questions at podcast at nerdballet.com or leave us a comment on Spotify or YouTube. Follow us on your favorite podcast app that includes Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and iHeartRadio to automatically download new episodes.

47:26Here's our brief disclaimer. We are not your financial or investment or AI advisors. This nerdy info is provided for general educational and entertainment purposes and may not apply to your specific circumstances.

47:36Elizabeth Ayoola:This episode was produced by Tess Vigeland, Hillary Georgie helped with editing. Eve Krogman is our editor and a big thank you to NerdWallet's editors for all of their help. And with that said, until next time, turn to the nerds.

47:53Hey, Smart Money listeners, we have a brand new email newsletter, and it's completely worth signing up for, especially since it's free.

48:00Elizabeth Ayoola:Every issue has clips from recent episodes, links to stories you might have missed, and also behind-the-scenes commentary from me, Sean, and our producer. Some of it is stuff that doesn't make it into the episodes. The context, the moments, the takes we didn't plan on sharing. You can think of it as the group chat for smart money fans. I'm going to be sharing inside details about parenting and money. Yes, I'll be sharing all the juicy stuff. And I'll have loads of tips about what I'm doing in my garden. So if you want to putz around your garden like I do, sign up for the newsletter. And also, you know, we have money tips and all that kind of stuff.

48:34So head to nerdwallet.com slash podcast to sign up. Again, it's free.

48:38Elizabeth Ayoola:That's nerdwallet.com slash podcast. We'll see you in your inbox.

49:11Thank you.

From the publisher

Find out how AI tools can help navigate the home buying process and where human expertise still matters most.

Can AI help you buy a house with reliable information? What would you do if you had only ten years to live, received a $100,000 windfall, or lost your job with just one month of emergency savings? Sean Pyles, CFP®, and Elizabeth Ayoola sit down with a NerdWallet colleague to unpack his journey using AI to buy a home. But first, they take turns putting each other through a series of hypothetical — and sometimes grim — financial scenarios, revealing how they'd really handle everything from lending money to a struggling family member to deciding between a millionaire's Camry and a thousandaire's Mercedes.

Then, NerdWallet’s podcast strategist Cody Gough joins Sean and Elizabeth in-studio to share his experience using Claude AI to help him make homebuying decisions. He shares how he used AI to figure out his financing options, find and evaluate agents, work through mortgage applications, and even assess whether specific neighborhoods were the right fit for his family. NerdWallet mortgage writer Kate Wood joins virtually to offer an expert reality check on Cody's experience — weighing in on his financing choices, what the AI got right and wrong about contingent offers in a competitive market, and where tools like NerdWallet's calculators and articles would have served him better than an AI chatbot. 

2026 Home Buyer Report – 48% of Prospective Buyers Will Use AI: https://www.nerdwallet.com/mortgages/studies/home-buyer-report 

Compare Today’s Mortgage Rates: https://www.nerdwallet.com/mortgages/mortgage-rates 

See how far your homebuying budget could take you with NerdWallet’s free home affordability calculator: https://www.nerdwallet.com/mortgages/calculators/how-much-house-can-i-afford 

Want us to review your budget? Fill out this form — completely anonymously if you want — and we might feature your budget in a future segment! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScK53yAufsc4v5UpghhVfxtk2MoyooHzlSIRBnRxUPl3hKBig/viewform?usp=header

To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email podcast@nerdwallet.com.

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