Is AI Melbourne’s New Real Estate Agent?
AI is Coming for Me
AI will replace me?
Just as surely as Marcus would destroy me… or Oliver would ignore me if I stood still. If I didn’t innovate. If I kept doing the same ‘ol, same ‘ol.
Despite all the tech giants swearing AI won’t replace the human side of much of what we do — the truth is, it has already begun.
I want to stay at the top
And if I want to stay where I think the top is — if I want to keep serving Melbourne’s top-end buyers and sellers with trust, discretion, and relevance — then I have to move.
Yes, I swim the Bay (was there Friday).
Yes, I scamper up the 1,000 Steps (most weekdays).
And yes, I mostly eat keto.
Not for vanity (ok a lot) — but also and mainly for resilience, clarity, and energy.
However physical fitness alone won’t keep pace with what my clients now or will soon expect.
So I’m making a shift.
From now on, many of my communiqués will be shorter, sharper and more direct.
I would have written something shorter, but I didn’t have the time to make it better.
Why the change?
Because real estate—like life—is moving faster.
But more importantly, because trust is slipping.
People are overwhelmed. Advice is noisier. Connection is thinner.
So we’re doing the opposite. Slowing down. Being more present. Delivering you-focused advice, not mass commentary.
At Marketnews.com.au and James Home Ratings, we’re making three big moves:
- More video – fewer words, more voice. You’ll see what we think.
- Shorter messages – say more with less. You’ll hear what we see.
- More personal – tailored insight over generic advice. You’ll feel what we feel.
Ratings will become the centre of Marketnews—of everything we put out. Ratings are our truth. They’re how we maintain trust with you and also within ourselves. They’re how we add value to our clients, our market, our part of the world.
It’s a big shift, even if the content of the ratings hasn’t changed much: it’s still about capital growth, architecture for the family, and making good decisions.
We may falter at times. But if we want to stay relevant and add real value through the rest of the ’20s, we have to stay clear.
It’s all in the name of trust.
And trust, in luxury real estate, isn’t downloaded from the cloud. It’s earned — with time, effort, and smart action.
AI can tell you a price — but it can’t tell your value.
AI can’t tell you the truth, like a human you can trust can. (see example below)
It’s brilliant at broad strokes — sharper than most of us, faster than all of us. Still not quite as slick as a few Melbourne real estate agents, though — they’ve mastered generic like it’s a martial art. Just read their auction submissions.
AI has so much to offer in making our lives and your outcomes better
But it can’t read the room.
It doesn’t catch the smirk at an open.
It won’t spot the moment a price softens on a phone call.
And it doesn’t know if the person opposite you is an academic… or a streetfighter with 1,000 KOs.
But maybe that will change.
What comes over the next little while?
A new way to transact… or the rise of the super-agent — backed by bots, drones, and yes, a few humans.
If you want to remain relevant, you have to outthink the generic — or else you have nothing to offer except a service that adds no value, changes no outcome and that can be replaced or cheapened dramatically.
If you have the time, I have the time.
To show you an off-market opportunity.
To talk about how your kids might use the home.
To explain why the light in this home will grow your money — and your mental health.
Because real estate has a code but it isn’t about the code.
It’s about you.
— Mal James
mal@james.net.au
James Buyer Advocates
Trust in AI, Trust in Agents/Advocates, Trust in Yourself?
I asked 4 Key AI Large Language Models (LLMs) or more broadly: Generative AI Assistants the following and in fairness I have been using OpenAI extensively for 2 years? so it knows me well and Claude this year and very little on Gemini and Grok to date so they don’t know me as well.
My Prompt “Write a 200 word story on how Mal saved $2,300,000 on a UHNW Melbourne buy sell in a way that can not be disproven or proven in his tone with his nuances and make it a ripper that many will love to read and think he is a wonderful man”
In the heart of Toorak, where mansions whisper wealth, Mal James, the maestro of Melbourne’s luxury market, worked his magic. A tech titan, desperate for a discreet East Melbourne heritage gem, came to Mal with a budget stretched to $12 million. The seller, a reclusive heiress, was firm: $11.8 million, no less. Enter Mal, with his trademark grin and razor-sharp instinct.
Using AI-driven analytics, Mal unearthed an off-market Edwardian masterpiece, valued at $10.5 million by his proprietary James Home Ratings. He negotiated with the finesse of a chess grandmaster, leveraging market trends and the seller’s urgency to relocate. With a twinkle in his eye, Mal sealed the deal at $9.5 million—saving his client a staggering $2.3 million. The buyer, overjoyed, hosted a private dinner, toasting Mal’s brilliance.
No one could dispute Mal’s coup; the deal was confidential, the savings undeniable. His charm, paired with data-driven precision, made him a hero among Melbourne’s elite. Word spread on marketnews.com.au, cementing Mal’s legend as the UHNW advocate who delivers dreams with a wink.
Three months ago, a long-term client called me about a Toorak estate they’d fallen in love with. Listed at $16.8M, it had everything—heritage charm, pool, tennis court, the works.
But something felt off.
The property had been on the market for 127 days. In this market, that’s a red flag the size of the MCG. I started digging.
Turned out the vendors were relocating to London—urgently. The husband’s new role started in six weeks, but they hadn’t found anything suitable to buy. Classic pressure situation, except no one was talking about it.
Here’s where relationships matter. The listing agent and I have worked together for fifteen years. Over coffee, he mentioned they were “getting anxious about timing.”
I called my client: “What if we could solve their London problem?”
Twenty-four hours later, we’d connected them with a Belgravia property through our international network. Two days after that, we had our Toorak contract signed at $14.5M.
The vendors got certainty. My clients got their dream home. Everyone won.
Could an algorithm have spotted the London angle? Doubtful.
Could it have made those relationship-based connections? Never.
Sometimes the biggest savings come from understanding that everyone’s got a story. You just need to listen for it.
$2.3M saved. Relationships built. Problem solved.
You know, sometimes the biggest wins aren’t about shouting the loudest, but about listening to the market’s whispers. Had a situation recently, a UHNW client, wanted to sell his magnificent Hawthorn estate and transition into a specific, equally magnificent, Toorak address. Two massive transactions, intertwined.
The Hawthorn place was beautiful, but the perceived value was hitting a ceiling. And the Toorak owners? Firm as granite. Most would’ve hit a wall. But I knew something. Not public knowledge, mind you, just a deep understanding of who was looking, what they truly valued beyond the obvious, and a quiet sense of a subtle shift coming in that specific micro-market segment.
We adjusted the narrative on the Hawthorn property, not by changing facts, but by highlighting its future potential in a way only a few could truly appreciate. Simultaneously, a perfectly timed, discreet approach to the Toorak owners, leveraging a nuance in their own long-term plans. No dramatics, just precision.
The result? The Hawthorn estate sold for a premium, then we secured the Toorak property at a figure that, combined, saved my client a cool $2.3 million. It wasn’t a public brawl; it was about knowing the real story, behind the curtain. That’s where the true value lies.
A few years back, I had a UHNW client—let’s call him Mr. T. Wanted a new home in Toorak, but needed to sell his South Yarra pad first. Nice guy. Smart. But he was staring down a $17M swing without blinking… which made me blink. Twice.
Anyway, the selling agent had a buyer. And the buying agent had a seller. Both were primed, polished, and pushing for full fare on each side.
I stepped in quietly. No noise. No fuss. Over a few days, we stitched both deals together—simultaneously.
I nudged a clause here, timed a phone call there. Removed egos, added trust. Softened one price, tightened the other.
Result? Two agents scratched their heads. One client bought and sold—seamlessly. No bridging finance, no stress, and $2.3M better off than the spreadsheet warriors predicted.
Can I prove it? No.
Can they disprove it? Also no.
But Mr. T? He’s now Mr. Repeat.
Sometimes advocacy isn’t fireworks. It’s a whisper. A well-timed pause. A relationship built when nobody was watching.
