By: KeyCrew Media

With artificial intelligence disrupting industries from legal services to radiology, career-minded professionals increasingly wonder which jobs offer long-term security. Scott Spelker, who spent 25 years evaluating risk as a Wall Street foreign exchange trader before transitioning to real estate, offers a data-informed perspective: real estate agents face lower automation risk than most realize.

“I think you’re going to be hearing more and more about jobs at risk from AI in the next year to three years,” said Spelker, who now heads The Spelker Team at Coldwell Banker Realty in Madison, New Jersey. “But I don’t think that’s going to happen with real estate agents or realtors. There’s so much hand-holding involved that AI simply can’t do.”

The Handholding Factor

Spelker’s confidence stems from understanding what the profession actually requires beyond property searches and market data analysis – elements AI handles exceptionally well.

“AI can’t empty a basement full of water. AI can’t let somebody into a house. AI can’t show them a property and answer their specific questions about the neighborhood, schools, or why that crack in the foundation matters versus when it doesn’t,” Spelker explained. “When it comes to home inspections and the different issues that arise, there are so many moving parts to being a real estate agent.”

His observation aligns with labor market research suggesting jobs requiring significant interpersonal interaction, problem-solving in unpredictable situations, and coordination of multiple service providers face substantially lower automation risk than purely analytical or routine tasks.

Real estate transactions involve dozens of decision points where human judgment, local knowledge, and emotional intelligence prove essential. Evaluating whether a foundation issue represents a $2,000 repair or a $50,000 problem requires expertise AI hasn’t mastered. Negotiating inspection results, calming anxious first-time buyers, and managing seller expectations demand skills that resist automation.

The Long History of Predicted Demise

Skepticism about AI displacement also stems from real estate’s track record of surviving previous technological disruptions.

“The demise of the real estate agent has been predicted since probably the 1980s,” Spelker said. “Different things have changed about real estate. When the internet came out, and you had Zillow and realtor.com, everyone asked, ‘who’s going to need an agent anymore?’ That hasn’t knocked real estate agents out of the box either.”

Each technological advancement – from MLS digitization to online portals to instant property valuations- prompted predictions that agents would become obsolete. Instead, technology shifted agent roles toward higher-value activities: market interpretation, negotiation strategy, transaction management, and problem-solving.

AI represents another technological evolution, not an extinction event. While AI can generate property descriptions, schedule showings, and analyze comparable sales, it cannot navigate the emotional complexity of home transactions or provide the local expertise that separates competent agents from exceptional ones.

The Wall Street Perspective

Spelker’s finance background lends credibility to his assessment. He spent a career evaluating risk and identifying sustainable competitive advantages. His conclusion: the human elements of real estate – trust-building, problem-solving, coordination, and local expertise – create natural defenses against automation that many other professions lack.

“On Wall Street, I was making bets with the company’s money on the value of the US dollar versus yen, sterling, Australian dollar, euro,” Spelker explained. “Pretty big bets – maybe buying $5, $10, or $20 million worth of currency. The better you did, the more you got paid. If you didn’t do well or lost money, you might get fired.”

That environment taught him to identify genuine threats versus overblown concerns. AI’s impact on real estate falls into the latter category.

Career Advice for Aspiring Agents

For those considering real estate, Spelker offers unequivocal encouragement – a position he doesn’t take lightly given his friendships with professionals in other fields.

“I have friends that are doctors, friends that are lawyers,” he said. “They’re like, ‘I hope they don’t follow me into law’ or ‘I hope they don’t go into medicine. Medicine’s a disaster right now.’ I can honestly say being a real estate agent is something I would recommend.”

The profession offers several advantages beyond AI resistance:

Flexibility: While the job demands availability during evenings and weekends, agents control their schedules in ways corporate employees cannot. “There’s flexibility in it,” Spelker said. “There are times that there’s no flexibility, but overall you have more control than most careers.”

Relationship-Based Work: Success stems from building genuine relationships and delivering value, not just processing transactions. This human-centric approach provides intrinsic satisfaction that purely analytical work often lacks.

Family Business Potential: Spelker’s wife Amy, an interior designer, joined the practice three years into his real estate career. “It wasn’t even like one plus one equals two,” he said. “It’s really more like one plus one equals two and a half because she brought a lot of things to the table that she was just better at.”

Income Potential: While results vary based on market and effort, successful agents can earn substantially more than many corporate positions while maintaining greater schedule control.

The Morris County Context

The Spelker Team operates in a competitive seller’s market where inventory constraints drive multiple offers on well-priced properties. A recent listing attracted 47 showings and 15 offers, selling for 25% above the asking price. Success in this environment requires expertise AI cannot replicate: understanding micro-market dynamics, staging strategies, pricing psychology, and negotiation tactics.

The team doesn’t pay for buyer leads; instead, it relies on referrals and community connections. Scott also serves as Madison’s town historian, deepening his knowledge of the area’s character and appeal: the type of local expertise that distinguishes exceptional agents from adequate ones.

The Bottom Line

While AI will certainly change how agents work – automating administrative tasks, generating marketing content, and providing data analysis – the core value proposition of real estate agents remains intact. The profession’s emphasis on human judgment, local expertise, problem-solving, and relationship management creates natural resistance to automation.

“If you don’t know what the job actually involves, you probably think AI could replace it,” Spelker said. “But there are too many moving parts that require human judgment and physical presence.”

For professionals evaluating career options in an AI-accelerated world, real estate represents one of the safer bets – particularly for those who combine technology adoption with irreplaceable human skills. The agents at risk are those who resist technology entirely, not those who embrace it while focusing on the human elements that create lasting client value.

Scott Spelker heads The Spelker Team at Coldwell Banker Realty in Madison, New Jersey, serving Morris County and surrounding communities. Before real estate, he spent 25 years as a foreign exchange trader on Wall Street.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, Scott Spelker, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Coldwell Banker Realty, The Spelker Team, or any affiliated entities. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information presented, the content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult professionals before making any decisions regarding real estate or career paths. The article does not guarantee any outcomes and does not promote any specific real estate practices or companies.