Should You Trust AI To Price Your Home in 2025?

By Bryan David

Bryan David is one of the best REALTORS® serving Ocean Springs, Biloxi, Gulfport and the entire coast. He is a Biloxi native, military veteran and retiree, and a multi-year top-producing agent with hundreds of satisfied clients.

If you are thinking about selling on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a quick online estimate can feel like a gift. It is tempting to trust a number that appears instantly and looks official. The problem is that in Mississippi sale prices are not disclosed the same way they are in many other states, and that changes how those automated valuation models, or AVMs, work. When the underlying data is incomplete or private, the machine can only guess.

What these tools do well is simple. They can process large amounts of data quickly, spot broad trends, and give you a sensible ballpark when houses in a market are nearly identical. If you live in a cookie-cutter subdivision with steady turnover and complete sales records, an AVM can be a useful starting point. It is fast, free, and easy to use.

At the beginning of the year, I went on a listing appointment with a seller whose expectations of sales price had been unrealistically inflated by online valuation tools, period. The tool they used pulled sales from Ocean Springs’ downtown golf-cart area and treated those as nearby comps, even though the seller’s house sits outside that district.

The Golf Cart District carries a real price premium because people can drive carts downtown for dinner and to the beach. The online model couldn’t see that neighborhood line and distinction. The owner insisted on the higher price, so I declined the listing. Another agent listed it at that number, the house had no showings for six months, and the listing eventually expired.

These models often fail when the details matter. An algorithm cannot walk your house and describe the vibe, the workmanship, the view, or the tiny neighborhood boundary that buyers prize. Unique renovations, odd lot shapes, deed restrictions, school micro-areas, and local lifestyle perks often do not show up in public feeds. In non-disclosure states the models are trying to learn from a limited or uneven set of signals. When the data is thin, the output can be misleading.

That is why local market knowledge still matters. A licensed agent who works your streets every month sees what buyers are actually paying and what properties are drawing traffic. We know which features justify a premium and which ones create resistance. That is boots-on-the-ground intelligence, the kind of context an algorithm cannot invent or predict. Good pricing is part data and part human judgment. It is also part marketing and part timing.

If you are planning to sell, use an online estimate as one quick checkpoint but not as the final word. Ask for a Comparative Market Analysis with true closed sales from the MLS and an explanation of why certain comparables were chosen or excluded. Look for an agent who knows the local nuances and can explain how buyers in your micro-market think. Pricing is not just a math problem; it’s also a communication problem. If buyers perceive your price as out of line, they will not walk through the door regardless of what a machine says.

AI and AVMs will keep improving, and they deserve a place in your toolbox. They are great for trend spotting and for starting a conversation. But on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, where disclosure rules and neighborhood quirks matter, the safest approach is to combine the speed of technology with the judgment of an experienced local agent. If you want, I will run a straightforward CMA for your property and show you the comps those online tools missed. Call or email me, and I will show you what the market really thinks your home is worth and how to attract the buyers you want.