AI Money Heads to Real Estate

As AI start-ups boom, young founders are coming to the real estate market with very specific expectations.

They're young, they're wealthy, and they have no desire to waste time shopping around for their next real estate buy. At least that’s the impression agents from The Agency have of this new class of AI/new tech millionaires who have been flooding the marketplace with new AI tools ever since OpenAI released ChatGPT in 2022, and are likely to keep shopping as companies like OpenAI and Anthropic prepare to go public.

Not only do these AI executives value different things when they shop for properties than their predecessors in the dot-com era, they’re also younger than ever before, bringing their very specific millennial and Generation Z sensibilities with them during every property tour. “One thing we’re seeing is that this demo tends to go for low-maintenance homes that are unique in some way,” says Michael Biryla, a broker at The Agency New York. “They’re also young, so making sure it’s going to be the right fit for a family is also very important to them.”

They’re often looking for a stable place to park their money, and are eager to diversify their portfolios. “They often have so much liquidity and they don’t want to leave it all in the markets,” Biryla says. “If they’ve got $400 million in liquid assets, they know it’s a smart idea to put 10% into real estate.”

Time Is Money

The younger generation of tech buyers prefers to move quickly, avoiding long, drawn-out searches for homes. “The photos and marketing of a home are everything,” says Eric McFarland, Managing Partner of The Agency Marin and The Agency Palm Springs. “This becomes either a draw for the potential buyer to tour the home—or not.” Once this buyer decides to view a property, the process often moves at a breakneck speed. “These buyers are decisive, they’re fast and they want to see the property as soon as possible,” McFarland says. After a walk-through, it's either a yes or a fast no, he says.

For the most time-pressed buyers, it’s not unusual for them to skip initial property tours and, instead, leave it up to their representatives to report back to them. “With properties at high price points like the ones we’re seeing in San Francisco right now, tech buyers will often send a personal assistant or executive assistant in to vet each home and do the process of elimination for them,” McFarland says. “Either way, if a good property comes to market, it goes very quickly, and things are trading egregiously over the list price. It's wild.”

⸺ At a glance

What the AI-wealth generation wants and how they buy is fundamentally different from prior tech-wealth cycles

The Agency managing partners (2026)

Move-In Ready Is a Must

No surprise, these buyers are intentionally opting for turnkey, move-in-ready homes, avoiding costly and time-consuming renovations. “For this home buyer, the goal is to move in and enjoy the house as quickly as possible,” says Emil Hartoonian, Managing Partner of The Agency Calabasas, California. “The last thing they want is to undergo improvements and repairs that will take an extensive amount of time.”

Their priorities tend to be different than the last generation of moneyed tech executives, McFarland says. “If the home has a tired kitchen, a dated bathroom, if the floors aren't refinished, if it hasn't been painted, if there’s deferred maintenance, that’s not going to be appealing,” he says. “If you’re somebody with the means to buy a $4 million home, you’re a mover and a shaker and a high earner. Your spouse is probably working, too, so no one has the time or desire to buy anything in need of work.”

Interestingly, in New York City, Biryla finds that AI executives are tending toward purchasing townhouses over co-ops and condos because they offer more flexibility in terms of board approval; they also tend to be less “cookie cutter.” Some may be more updated and move-in ready, too. “These people are interested in simplicity,” Biryla says. “They want pieds-à-terre that offer them versatility and the ability to come and go as they please as most are traveling between New York City, Miami, and Silicon Valley.”

They’re also way more open to purchasing unique properties than other buyers, he adds. “They don’t want typical floor plans,” he says. And if they can buy a home with its own garage, all the better. “Many are car collectors and are seeking homes that have ‘curb cuts,’ which are dips in the sidewalk and curb, that enable them to drive right into their home,” he says. “That’s a huge plus.”

Wellness Spaces Are a Big Draw

For these young AI-money buyers, a wine cellar, swimming pool, and tricked-out home cinema are nice add-ons, but what they’re really seeking is a serene home—and full floors where they can relax—perhaps even more than the last generation of millionaires. “These entrepreneurs deal with a lot of noise in their exterior world,” says Peter Torkan, Managing Partner of The Agency Toronto. “When it comes to the sanctuary of home, they’re looking for things that will soothe and calm them, like dry and steam saunas, cold plunges, Zen gardens, and koi ponds.”

Living hectic lives means that finding a home with ocean views or easy access to nature is a major priority, Torkan adds. “They’re dealing daily with multiple companies and thousands of employees,” he says. “I’m finding that the bigger their jobs get, the more they’re looking for homes that offer ways to relax and take a break from their daily lives.”

Hi-Tech Amenities Matter, Too

It goes without saying that today’s high-net-worth AI executives are also looking for the latest smart-home technology, Hartoonian says. Some are making their homes tech-savvy enough that they can be used as professional spaces. “I’m listing a property next month that has a podcast room,” he says. “These buyers want features that represent a step-up from what was offered before—and something that isn’t the norm in most homes.”

Scott Coggins, Managing Partner of The Agency Nashville, is seeing an influx of tech industry buyers as companies, such as Oracle, relocate to his tax-friendly state. One of the first questions prospective buyers ask when touring any home is about fiber. This generation “wants all the home office amenities and all the luxuries of their office in Silicon Valley,” he says.

“The tech people can live in lower-tax states and never miss a day of work, that’s why they want fiber. They also want backup generators, HVACs that have been replaced—big-ticket items that affect how the home operates. The last generation wanted to show success, this generation wants to have a home that operates how they want it to be.”

They want to kick back, too, though. An in-home Dave & Buster’s-like setup replete with pool tables, foosball tables, dart boards, multiple consoles, old-school arcade games, and a stocked bar area at the ready for gatherings with friends and family, isn’t an unusual ask, either. “We are seeing an increased interest in extensive game rooms with multiple things to do at one time in there,” Hartoonian says. “There’s this interest in amping things up and stepping up the amenity end of things.”

“AI has really begun to take off in the past year, so we’re just at the beginning of understanding what these buyers are going to want to spend money on.”

Peter Torkan, The agency Toronto

Privacy and Security Are Everything

Security is a top priority for today’s AI founders, too. That’s why “there’s a particular interest in guard-gated communities, because you can’t match the safety that comes with those homes,” Hartoonian says. This is especially true because many of these executives travel extensively and want to know that someone’s keeping an eye on their homes when they’re not there.

Seclusion and privacy are also high on the list of what matters to these buyers. “I had a tech buyer looking at a $10 million house a week ago, and he told me he wanted me to find him a home in a more secluded location,” Torkan says of the buyer who recently sold multiple companies for between $200 million and $300 million. “That was very important to him and his family.”

Keeping ownership information private matters more and more, too, says Biryla. “A 27-year-old tech executive I just sold a home to purchased it using three different LLCs,” he says of the client who is worth $2 billion. “One was in Wisconsin and the others were in a few states in the country where you can set up an LLC that can’t be identified. This guy doesn’t want anybody to know who he is—and others are doing this, too.” And, as for what remains a priority for this next generation of tech executives, Torkan says only time will tell. “AI has really begun to take off in the past year, so we’re just at the beginning of understanding what these buyers are going to want to spend money on,” he says. “We don’t have all the data yet.” ●