Estate agents and auctioneers

SOC 2020 code 3555

Estate agents and auctioneers arrange for the valuation, sale, purchase, rental and leasing of property on behalf of clients, as well as the auction of livestock and antiques.

Employees (UK)
25k
Median annual pay
£26,988
Exposure score ?
0.3/10 Minimal 9.2/10 Very high strict reading · with tools is 9.2/10 with-tools reading · strict is 0.3/10
Wage exposure
£20m £621m

Higher exposure than 18% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.

Reading the score as:
What an LLM can do unaided. LLM plus workflow tools — closer to 2026.

What this score means

Most of this role's work is still genuinely hard for AI to do. Physical presence, bodily skill, high-context judgment, direct human care - the things that don't translate to text.

If you're in this role, here's what to do now

You're not in the firing line today. But the frontier moves. Build enough AI fluency now that you can direct it for the parts of your work that could benefit. People in unexposed roles who understand AI become unusually valuable inside their organisations.

Almost every routine task in this role is within reach of today's language models. Roles at this level are getting rebuilt - often not by disappearing, but by one person using AI to do three or five people's output.

If you're in this role, here's what to do now

You don't need to be afraid. You need to be the person doing the rebuilding. The operators who learn to direct AI at scale in this kind of work become hugely valuable. The ones who wait to be told what to do get told what to do - and that thing is often 'we don't need as many of you anymore.'

Where a project with Alex usually starts for this role

This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgment, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where we start — flip the toggle to 'With tools' to see what AI plus the right context can compress.

  1. Prepare documents such as representation contracts, purchase agreements, closing statements, deeds, and leases.

    O*NET importance 4.9/5 · still needs a human under the strict reading

  2. Present purchase offers to sellers for consideration.

    O*NET importance 4.9/5 · still needs a human under the strict reading

  3. Act as an intermediary in negotiations between buyers and sellers, generally representing one or the other.

    O*NET importance 4.8/5 · still needs a human under the strict reading

These are the highest-importance tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around these — usually the difference between an LLM that can technically do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.

  1. Prepare documents such as representation contracts, purchase agreements, closing statements, deeds, and leases.

    O*NET importance 4.9/5 · AI can do this with workflow tools

  2. Present purchase offers to sellers for consideration.

    O*NET importance 4.9/5 · AI can do this with workflow tools

  3. Act as an intermediary in negotiations between buyers and sellers, generally representing one or the other.

    O*NET importance 4.8/5 · AI can do this with workflow tools

Every role has three or four wedges like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days. Talk to Alex about a project →

The full task breakdown

Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can already do unaided versus what still needs a human. Importance is O*NET's 1–5 rating of how central each task is to the role.

What AI can already do

0 of 33 tasks · unaided

No tasks here are labelled as something an LLM can do unaided. Switch to 'With tools' above to see what changes when AI is paired with the right context.

Where humans still hold the line

33 of 33 tasks

  1. Prepare documents such as representation contracts, purchase agreements, closing statements, deeds, and leases.

    importance 4.9/5

  2. Present purchase offers to sellers for consideration.

    importance 4.9/5

  3. Act as an intermediary in negotiations between buyers and sellers, generally representing one or the other.

    importance 4.8/5

  4. Generate lists of properties that are compatible with buyers' needs and financial resources.

    importance 4.7/5

  5. Confer with escrow companies, lenders, home inspectors, and pest control operators to ensure that terms and conditions of purchase agreements are met before closing dates.

    importance 4.7/5

  6. Promote sales of properties through advertisements, open houses, and participation in multiple listing services.

    importance 4.6/5

  7. Compare a property with similar properties that have recently sold to determine its competitive market price.

    importance 4.6/5

  8. Coordinate property closings, overseeing signing of documents and disbursement of funds.

    importance 4.6/5

  9. Interview clients to determine what kinds of properties they are seeking.

    importance 4.4/5

  10. Contact previous clients for prospecting of referral business.

    importance 4.4/5

  11. Review property listings, trade journals, and relevant literature, and attend conventions, seminars, and staff and association meetings, to remain knowledgeable about real estate markets.

    importance 4.3/5

  12. Answer clients' questions regarding construction work, financing, maintenance, repairs, and appraisals.

    importance 4.3/5

  13. Coordinate appointments to show homes to prospective buyers.

    importance 4.3/5

  14. Contact property owners and advertise services to solicit property sales listings.

    importance 4.3/5

  15. Advise sellers on how to make homes more appealing to potential buyers.

    importance 4.3/5

  16. Advise clients on market conditions, prices, mortgages, legal requirements, and related matters.

    importance 4.2/5

  17. Display commercial, industrial, agricultural, and residential properties to clients and explain their features.

    importance 4.1/5

  18. Accompany buyers during visits to and inspections of property, advising them on the suitability and value of the homes they are visiting.

    importance 4.0/5

  19. Arrange for title searches to determine whether clients have clear property titles.

    importance 3.9/5

  20. Develop networks of attorneys, mortgage lenders, and contractors to whom clients may be referred.

    importance 3.8/5

  21. Investigate clients' financial and credit status to determine eligibility for financing.

    importance 3.6/5

  22. Review plans for new construction with clients, enumerating and recommending available options and features.

    importance 3.5/5

  23. Evaluate mortgage options to help clients obtain financing at the best prevailing rates and terms.

    importance 3.5/5

  24. Inspect condition of premises, and arrange for necessary maintenance or notify owners of maintenance needs.

    importance 3.2/5

  25. Appraise properties to determine loan values.

    importance 3.2/5

  26. Visit properties to assess them before showing them to clients.

    importance 3.2/5

  27. Contact utility companies for service hookups to clients' property.

    importance 3.1/5

  28. Solicit and compile listings of available rental properties.

    importance 3.0/5

  29. Conduct seminars and training sessions for sales agents to improve sales techniques.

    importance 2.9/5

  30. Arrange meetings between buyers and sellers when details of transactions need to be negotiated.

    importance 2.8/5

  31. Rent or lease properties on behalf of clients.

    importance 2.7/5

  32. Secure construction or purchase financing with own firm or mortgage company.

    importance 2.6/5

  33. Locate and appraise undeveloped areas for building sites, based on evaluations of area market conditions.

    importance 2.3/5

What AI can already do

29 of 33 tasks · with tools

  1. Prepare documents such as representation contracts, purchase agreements, closing statements, deeds, and leases.

    importance 4.9/5

  2. Present purchase offers to sellers for consideration.

    importance 4.9/5

  3. Act as an intermediary in negotiations between buyers and sellers, generally representing one or the other.

    importance 4.8/5

  4. Generate lists of properties that are compatible with buyers' needs and financial resources.

    importance 4.7/5

  5. Confer with escrow companies, lenders, home inspectors, and pest control operators to ensure that terms and conditions of purchase agreements are met before closing dates.

    importance 4.7/5

  6. Promote sales of properties through advertisements, open houses, and participation in multiple listing services.

    importance 4.6/5

  7. Compare a property with similar properties that have recently sold to determine its competitive market price.

    importance 4.6/5

  8. Coordinate property closings, overseeing signing of documents and disbursement of funds.

    importance 4.6/5

  9. Interview clients to determine what kinds of properties they are seeking.

    importance 4.4/5

  10. Contact previous clients for prospecting of referral business.

    importance 4.4/5

  11. Review property listings, trade journals, and relevant literature, and attend conventions, seminars, and staff and association meetings, to remain knowledgeable about real estate markets.

    importance 4.3/5

  12. Answer clients' questions regarding construction work, financing, maintenance, repairs, and appraisals.

    importance 4.3/5

  13. Coordinate appointments to show homes to prospective buyers.

    importance 4.3/5

  14. Contact property owners and advertise services to solicit property sales listings.

    importance 4.3/5

  15. Advise sellers on how to make homes more appealing to potential buyers.

    importance 4.3/5

  16. Advise clients on market conditions, prices, mortgages, legal requirements, and related matters.

    importance 4.2/5

  17. Arrange for title searches to determine whether clients have clear property titles.

    importance 3.9/5

  18. Develop networks of attorneys, mortgage lenders, and contractors to whom clients may be referred.

    importance 3.8/5

  19. Investigate clients' financial and credit status to determine eligibility for financing.

    importance 3.6/5

  20. Review plans for new construction with clients, enumerating and recommending available options and features.

    importance 3.5/5

  21. Evaluate mortgage options to help clients obtain financing at the best prevailing rates and terms.

    importance 3.5/5

  22. Appraise properties to determine loan values.

    importance 3.2/5

  23. Visit properties to assess them before showing them to clients.

    importance 3.2/5

  24. Contact utility companies for service hookups to clients' property.

    importance 3.1/5

  25. Solicit and compile listings of available rental properties.

    importance 3.0/5

  26. Arrange meetings between buyers and sellers when details of transactions need to be negotiated.

    importance 2.8/5

  27. Rent or lease properties on behalf of clients.

    importance 2.7/5

  28. Secure construction or purchase financing with own firm or mortgage company.

    importance 2.6/5

  29. Locate and appraise undeveloped areas for building sites, based on evaluations of area market conditions.

    importance 2.3/5

Where humans still hold the line

4 of 33 tasks

  1. Display commercial, industrial, agricultural, and residential properties to clients and explain their features.

    importance 4.1/5

  2. Accompany buyers during visits to and inspections of property, advising them on the suitability and value of the homes they are visiting.

    importance 4.0/5

  3. Inspect condition of premises, and arrange for necessary maintenance or notify owners of maintenance needs.

    importance 3.2/5

  4. Conduct seminars and training sessions for sales agents to improve sales techniques.

    importance 2.9/5

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Methodology

This role's exposure score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 GPT task labels, aggregated by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 via ISCO-08 (ONS Vol 2 coding index) and US SOC 2010 (BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional. ASHE covers employees only, so self-employed workers are not counted.

Methodology · Sources (PDF) · About · Built 29 April 2026

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