When the calendar page turns on a new year, there’s always some degree of trepidation about the changes that lie ahead. But there’s also excitement about the potential those changes may yield. For real estate professionals, 2026 is shaping up to be exactly that kind of year.
“Top teams and professional producers are at this crossroads right now,” says Joe Skousen, CEO of Inside Real Estate. “They’re trying to balance lead gen, client engagement, figuring out where AI fits…it’s a lot.”
That’s why Skousen and his team have put the focus on removing the fear and facilitating the potential for real estate professionals with future-focused enhancements to BoldTrail, Inside Real Estate’s all-in-one technology platform for agents, teams and brokers. The recently launched HomeSearch AI is the latest addition to BoldTrail’s comprehensive suite of tools.
Inside Real Estate’s HomeSearch AI lets buyers search the way they actually talk—not just matching keywords, but understanding intent.
“I’m really excited about what’s happening right now with HomeSearch AI,” says Skousen. “It lets buyers search the way they actually talk. Someone types in ‘craftsman with a two-car garage, spa-like bathrooms, in a neighborhood with sidewalks and parks,’ and the AI understands what they really want. Not just matching keywords, but understanding intent.”
While other natural-language AI search models are now dotting the market, Skousen believes HomeSearch AI has a distinct competitive advantage. “I’m really proud that we had the foresight to acquire ListAssist early in 2025 and build this the right way,” he says. “You can’t just bolt natural language search onto an existing system and expect it to deliver the same experience. We built it into the foundation, with the data infrastructure and scale to make it truly effective. That head start matters.”
And according to Skousen, the results so far have been somewhat jaw-dropping, with early adopters seeing 20x – 40x more conversations with their sphere. “Not 20% more,“ he says. “Twenty times more. It’s fundamentally changing how agents engage with their databases.”
HomeSearch AI further solidifies BoldTrail’s ability to serve as a hub that allows real estate professionals to drive more engagement, more productivity and more intelligence through the activities that comprise their day-to-day.
“We’re focused on helping agents uncover opportunities they’re already sitting on,” explains Skousen. “Your inbox is full of hidden opportunities. Your database has signals you might be missing. And being able to respond in the moment can be the difference between winning and losing a deal. It all ties back to owning the complete homeownership journey and helping agents build real, lasting relationships with their clients.”
According to Skousen, owning the homeownership journey is an urgent necessity for anyone who’s part of the real estate ecosystem.
“I think the industry’s kind of lost the plot on lead generation,” he explains. “Everyone’s chasing new leads, expecting people to be ready immediately. But that’s just not how buyers and sellers engage anymore.”
Instead, says Skousen, agents need to focus on database reactivation, which leads to higher conversion at a fraction of the cost. Doing so, however, requires the right resources.
“Most agents don’t have tools smart enough to actually work their database effectively,” he says. “We’re solving that. We’re sending 160 million alerts a month through the platform, and when someone’s search gets matched with the right property, that conversation starts naturally.
“The entire industry needs to wake up to the benefit of full homeownership experiences for clients. That’s what we’re building with BoldTrail,” adds Skousen. “As we bring new capabilities to market this year, we’re continuing that momentum. More conversations from relationships you’ve already built, better engagement, consistent execution.”
Outcomes Over Features
As AI-powered offerings flood the market, Skousen advises real estate professionals to look beyond the bells and whistles and make sure any product they’re considering delivers measurable results.
“What really matters to us is outcomes over features,” he explains. “How does AI surface opportunities hiding in inboxes? How does it improve engagement across every touchpoint? How does it help agents work smarter without adding more complexity?”
For a company to deliver on all of those fronts, says Skousen, it must have not only the technology, but the data, the scale and the people as well.
“We have professionalized teams focused on conversion-rate optimization, lead-funnel analysis and database-engagement strategies,” he says. “Most companies either have the tech or they have the optimization expertise, but not both. We’re bringing the full package.”
In short, when it comes to AI, don’t just consider the features. Consider the partner.
“What matters is capabilities, scale, the ability to innovate and stay ahead,” says Skousen. “Can your partner enhance and enrich your data over time—data that you own and control? Do they have the expertise to help you convert more, engage more, grow more? That’s where we stand apart.”
In addition to results-driven AI expertise, Skousen believes that BoldTrail also solves the problem of “platform sprawl.”
“Agents don’t need another tool. They need everything to work together seamlessly,” he says. “BoldTrail and BackOffice can be your complete solution, or we can be the foundational hub that makes all your other tools work better together. The point is flexibility. Whether you go all-in with our full stack or integrate the solutions you’re already invested in, your tech ecosystem works better because of how we’ve built it.”
Future Focused
As we head into 2026, Skousen has a message for the real estate industry: Stop thinking transactionally and start embracing the entire homeownership lifecycle.
“We’re so focused on closing the deal that we’re missing the bigger opportunity,” he explains. “Someone doesn’t just buy a home and disappear. They renovate, refinance, track their equity, think about their next move. It’s a massive opportunity just sitting there. Every brokerage, every team should be able to deliver that complete journey, and we’re partnering with agents and brokerages to make that possible.”
As Skousen and his team continue to build momentum around the release of HomeSearch AI, making sure agents and teams maximize the resource to its fullest potential, they are also building toward something bigger.
“As we move through the year, we’re bringing capabilities to market that surface opportunities agents are already sitting on—deals hiding in their inboxes and conversations they’re already having,” he says. “The goal isn’t more tools. It’s more intelligence baked into what they’re already doing.”
With that goal in mind, Skousen plans to expand BoldTrail’s capability as a hub, continuing to add partnerships and improve how data moves across the system.
“Everything we do comes back to one question: Does this help the agent build lasting relationships with their clients?” he explains. “We’re not chasing features. We’re building a platform that helps agents own the complete homeownership journey.”
