Build Your Own AI Tools for CRE: How To

The ChatCRE October 2024 Edition: Learn to build CUSTOM GPTs

If you’ve been following this newsletter you’ve probably noticed a common theme:

The goal is to teach everyday CRE professionals how to leverage AI.

But once they learn to do that, a common question comes up:

How do I enable my TEAM to leverage AI?

Yes you should train them, and it’s a grand idea to try to make your whole team AI experts.

But to me, if you want to get your team using AI TOMORROW, the simplest answer is to provide them access to custom GPTs.

SPOILER ALERT: If you already know what custom GPTs are and you want to learn to make your own, click here, enter your email and we’ll send you a step-by-step tutorial video outlining the process.

What are Custom GPTs?

Custom GPTs are exactly what the name suggests: They’re customized versions of ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini, Copilot, etc) that you’ve built to execute a specific task.

Why do I love custom GPTs so much?

Custom GPTs are great for enabling your team to leverage AI because the GPT already knows what you want it to do - You’ve already pointed the GPT in a specific direction by providing it instructions when you built it.

If you build the GPT with your team’s accessibility in mind, the GPT doesn’t even require a prompt for them to use it.

The Outcome:

Your team doesn’t need to be an expert level ChatGPT wizard to get AI to complete CRE tasks, because the GPT already KNOWS what you want it to do.

You and your team don’t need to memorize complicated 8-paragraph AI prompts, because the GPT has the instructions baked right into it.

Better yet..

You can do more with Custom GPTs than just pointing AI in a specific direction. You can give it access to specific data and information.

So not only can you create a GPT to execute specific tasks, you can give it reference material to mimic so that it completes tasks based on examples of how you’ve completed the task in the past.

For Example:

Not only could you create a Custom GPT that writes press releases for your recent transactions based off a handful of transaction bullet points..

You can upload an example of a previous press release you’ve written to the back-end of the GPT so that it writes the press release using the exact same style, formatting, and brand voice as your previous examples.

It Gets Better:

You can give your GPT access to data sets so that the people using it can easily access and chat with any sort of information you want. Think transaction data, buyer lists, process documentation, you name it - All now accessible for your team to query and analyze through a chatbot.

Last But Not Least:

You can automate these Custom GPTs to take action when things happen in your other platforms by connecting them to those platforms using tools like Zapier or Make, but that’s an entirely different lesson.

Now, I realize, this all might seem a little abstract as I’m describing it. So let’s bring it down to reality.

Here’s just a handful of Custom GPTs I’ve built in the past few months.

OM Analyzer GPT: Summarize OM Information in Seconds

Again, this GPT is so simple to use, you don’t even need to type a prompt. Just upload the OM, and it will pull you the relevant tenant and property info, a great GPT use for top of funnel acquisitions and deal comparison.

You can check out OM Analyzer GPT here. Ensure that you turn off data-sharing in your ChatGPT account before uploading documents to it so OpenAI doesn’t train their systems on your docs, and never upload personally identifiable information to an AI tool.

This GPT just provides a summary, but you could instruct the GPT to see if the deal meets your pre-defined investment criteria, or identify strengths and weaknesses of the rent rolls and other due diligence materials, etc..

Zoning Info GPT: Find Approved & Conditional Uses from Zoning Ordinances

Tired of flipping through a 200 page zoning ordinance? I uploaded the land-use ordinance for Portland, Maine to the back of this GPT for easy referencing. Give it a zone and it will pull you the approved and conditional uses, along with any reference notes so you know what hoops you’ll need to jump through for the conditional uses.

Lease Summary GPT: Summarize Your Commercial Leases

Same concept as the OM analyzer, just different intel. Again, you don’t need a prompt, just upload the lease and and it will pull you critical data points in seconds. This GPT was instructed to pull specific details, but you can instruct yours to pull whatever information from your leases that you’d like. Again, ensure that you turn off data-sharing in your ChatGPT account before uploading documents to it so OpenAI doesn’t train their systems on your docs, and never upload personally identifiable information to an AI tool.

You can check out Commercial Lease GPT here.

Important note: You can instruct your GPT to simply “provide a summary of critical information in the lease”, but it will work much better if you instruct it to pull the specific things you’re typically looking for. You may want separate GPTs for different kinds of leases.

Real Estate Writer Pro: Draft Your Brochures & OMs Based On Your Templates

This one’s a little different from the last few, but still very easy to use.

Give it an address, a few bullet points, and a property photo, this GPT will scrape information from across the web, combine it with insights from the photo and your bullet points, and create a super detailed property description.

Next, you can upload a marketing piece you want to emulate, and it will draft your entire brochure or OM using the same style and components of the one that you uploaded.

You can try Real Estate Writer Pro here.

Lease Comp GPT:

I don’t think I’ve talked to a single broker with an in-house comp database that likes pulling comps. Bad interface, too many filters, hard to use, etc. You can make this easy by uploading your comps to a GPT.

Ask for industrial comps, ask it to filter it for NNN lease types, you can even ask it to analyze and visualize the data. This ones private, so unfortunately you can’t try it out, but it’s simple enough to make and upload your comp data.

As we've explored, custom GPTs are a game-changer for commercial real estate professionals looking to harness the power of AI. By creating tailored AI assistants for specific tasks, you can easily roll AI tools out to your team without expecting them to become professional prompt wizards overnight.

As AI continues to begins the commercial real estate world, those who adapt and integrate these technologies will have a distinct competitive advantage. Custom GPTs offer a practical, accessible entry point for teams looking to embrace AI.

We encourage you to explore the potential of custom GPTs for your own CRE operations. Start small, with a single task-specific GPT, and gradually expand as you see the benefits unfold. Remember, the key to success is tailoring these tools to your unique processes and needs.

Now it’s time to build. Head here and submit your email, we’ll immediately send a step-by-step tutorial on the exact workflow I used to create the OM Analyzer GPT.

That’s It, That’s All

Thanks for reading the October 2024 edition of ChatCRE. Feel free to comment with what you liked or could do without, or if you want to send more specific feedback, send me a message on X, or just respond to this email. If you found this helpful, please consider passing the newsletter along to a friend:

P.S. I’m currently booking private and public presentations and trainings on how to leverage AI tools for commercial real estate. If you’d be interested in having me speak or provide a training to your team, company, or association, please send me an email and we can set something up.