AI for Property Investors: How to Set Up 3 No-Cost AI Hacks in 30 Minutes (and Save 10+ Hours a Week)
Let me paint you the reality most of us live in right now.
It's 11 PM on a Tuesday. You're sitting at your kitchen table, surrounded by empty coffee cups, staring at your laptop screen until your eyes burn. Your spouse gave up waiting for you to come to bed two hours ago. That property deal you've been analyzing? It's the fourth one today, and just like the others, the numbers don't quite work.
Welcome to the glamorous world of property investment.
I'm Hayley Brown from Redcar, and after spending 12 years watching property professionals slowly lose their minds (and their social lives), I've got something to tell you that might sting a bit.
You're doing it wrong.
The Dream vs. The Reality
Remember why you got into property? The dream was beautiful, wasn't it? Passive income flowing into your bank account while you sipped piña coladas on a white beach somewhere. Financial freedom. Time freedom. The whole package. The. Dream.
Then reality hits.
Instead of living the dream, you're spending your evenings responding to tenant messages about dripping taps. Your weekends? ("What weekend?" you mutter.) They're now dedicated to scrutinizing Rightmove listings and updating spreadsheets. Your "passive" income feels about as passive as running a marathon. In flip-flops. Through quicksand. While carrying a family fridge.
The Solution (And Why It's Not What You Think)
This is why I built my business around AI and automation. Not because I'm some tech genius who loves AI (though I'll admit my relationship with AI is questionable—if it were sentient, I'd probably have been arrested for harassment by now).
I built my agency, allin1.app, out of frustration—watching smart people do dumb things with their time. In fact, many of the apps, automations, solutions, and projects that come out of allin1.app are born from a mix of frustration… and, well, some are just for fun.
On With the Deal-Finding Revolution
Imagine waking up every morning to a WhatsApp message with exactly the properties you need to see. Not hundreds. Not dozens. Just the ones that match your criteria, complete with:
Deal analysis that would make your spreadsheets blush
Local market data that would take you hours to compile
Yield calculations accurate to two decimal places
Comparable properties in the area
Predicted capital growth based on historical data
And the best part? It happens while you sleep.
The human way costs you £800-£1,200 every month.
The AI way? £100-£250… about what you spend on takeaway coffee.
The Number-Crunching Innovation
Remember that massive spreadsheet you're so proud of? The one with more formulas than a NASA launch sequence?
AI can do those calculations in seconds.
And it never makes mistakes. It never forgets to factor in service charges. It never accidentally puts a decimal point in the wrong place.
A human analyst costs £1,500+ monthly.
AI does it for £200-£300… less than your monthly gym membership (that you never use because you're too busy with spreadsheets).
The ‘Always-On’ Property Manager
It's 3 AM. A tenant has a maintenance issue. Instead of waiting until morning, they get an immediate response. The issue is logged. The right contractor is notified. The follow-up is scheduled.
All while you're dreaming about your next property deal.
A human assistant runs you £1,000-£2,000 monthly.
AI? £150-£300… probably less than your phone bill.
"But What About the Personal Touch?"
Let me be clear. AI isn't about replacing the human touch; it's about enhancing it.
When you're not spending hours on administrative tasks, you actually have time to build real relationships. To meet mentees and investors face-to-face. To visit properties. To do the things that require a human.
Do you know what doesn't require a human? Sending the same "Thank you for your enquiry" email for the thousandth time.
The AI Truth Bombs Nobody Else Will Drop
AI isn't going to replace property professionals. It's going to help property professionals who embrace it outperform those who don't. Simple as that.
ChatGPT isn't going to write the perfect property description. But it's better than whatever masterpiece you're creating at 11 PM after your fifth coffee.
Automation isn't about replacing human interaction. It's about automating the boring stuff so you can have human interactions that don’t make you want to move to a desert island.
Your biggest competition isn't other property professionals. It's your resistance to change. And maybe that one agent who keeps posting inspirational quotes at 5 AM. (We get it, Dave, you wake up early.)
Want to Play a Game?
Reading about it is one thing. Actually setting it up? That’s where the magic happens.Here’s the deal: I’ve designed three AI automation challenges for you—each one a step up from the last.
They are:● Level 1: “The Smartest Inbox You’ve Ever Had” – because filtering through junk emails and tenant requests manually is a waste of your life
● Level 2: “Your Own AI Deal Finder” – because you don’t need to spend hours scrolling Rightmove anymore
● Level 3: “The Portfolio-Scaling Machine” – because you want to grow, not get bogged down in admin
Each one is designed to take less than 30 minutes to set up, with step-by-step instructions even an 8-year-old could follow.Pick one. Set it up. Watch your life get easier.
Level 1: The Smartest Inbox You’ve Ever HadThis automation will sort your emails, auto-reply to common enquiries, and send urgent messages straight to your phone so you’re not drowning in emails all day.
What You Need
A free Make.com account (sign up at Make.com)
A Gmail or Outlook account
An OpenAI account
Step 1: Connect Your Email to Make.com
Go to Make.com and click “Create a new scenario”
Click “Add a module” and search for Gmail (or Outlook if you use that instead)
Select “Watch Emails” as the trigger
Log in to your Gmail/Outlook account when prompted
Set the filter to only watch new unread emails
Step 2: Use AI to Read and Sort Emails
Click “+” to add another module
Search for OpenAI (ChatGPT) and select “create a completion prompt”
In the “Prompt” section, copy and paste this:"Read this email and categorise it as one of the following:○ Urgent (Needs Immediate Response)○ Property Deal○ Tenant Issue○ Investor Interest○ Spam
In the Input Text section, select “Text content” from Gmail
Step 3: Automate Sorting and Replies
Add a router (Click “+” and select “Router”) so we can send different emails to different actions
For urgent emails:○ Add a WhatsApp or SMS module (Twilio or ClickSend)○ Set it to send a message with the email’s subject and a direct link to read it
For property deals:○ Add an Airtable module and set it to store the deal details
For tenant issues:○ Add OpenAI (ChatGPT) again, with this prompt:"Write a professional but friendly response acknowledging the tenant's issue and letting them know we’ll follow up soon."○ Set it to send the response via Gmail/Outlook automatically
Step 4: Activate and Test
Click “Run Once” and send yourself a test email
Check if it’s being sorted correctly
If it works, click/toggle “Activate”
Time saved per week: 4+ hoursHuman cost: £500/monthAI cost: £0 (Make.com free plan)
Level 2: Your Own AI Deal FinderThis automation scrapes Rightmove and Zoopla, filters the best deals, and sends you a report every morning.
What You Need
A free Make.com account
A free Apify account (sign up at Apify.com)
A free Airtable account
Step 1: Scrape Property Listings Automatically
Go to Apify.com and create an account
Search for “Rightmove Scraper” (or “Zoopla Scraper”)
Click “Use,” then set:○ Location: Your target area○ Filters: Price range, property type, etc.
Click “Start” and copy the API URL it gives you
Step 2: Send Property Listings to Make.com
Go to Make.com and create a new scenario
Click “Add a module” → Select HTTP
Choose “Make a request,” then paste the API URL from Apify
Set it to fetch new listings every 12 hours
Step 3: Use AI to Filter and Score Deals
Add OpenAI (ChatGPT)
In the Prompt section, copy and paste:"Evaluate this property listing and rate it from 1-10 based on:○ BMV (Below Market Value)○ Rental Yield○ Potential Capital Growth○ Only return properties rated 7 or higher."
Set it to process each property listing
Step 4: Save the Best Deals to Airtable
Add an Airtable module → Choose “Create a Record”
Select your Airtable spreadsheet (create one with columns like Address, Price, Yield and Score)
Set Make.com to only add properties with a Score of 7+
Step 5: Get a Daily Summary by Email/WhatsApp
Add a Gmail/WhatsApp module
Set it to send you the top 5 deals every morning at 7 AM
Time saved per week: 10+ hoursHuman cost: £1,000/monthAI cost: £150-£250/month
Level 3: The Portfolio-Scaling MachineThis automation handles leads, investor messages, and tenant requests, so you’re not glued to your inbox all day.
What You Need
A Make.com account
A free Calendly account
A free OpenAI account
Step 1: Capture and Sort New Enquiries
Go to Make.com and create a new scenario
Click “Add a module” → Select Gmail (or CRM)
Choose “Watch for new enquiries”
Step 2: AI Reads and Sorts Messages
Add OpenAI (ChatGPT)
Use this prompt:"Read this enquiry and categorise it as:○ Tenant Maintenance Request○ Investor Interest○ Buyer Lead○ Cold Lead○ Spam
Step 3: Automate Responses and Actions
Tenant maintenance request → Auto-log it and notify the right contractor
Investor interest → AI sends a warm response and a Calendly link for a meeting
Buyer lead → AI sends property details and schedules a follow-up
Cold lead → Adds them to a nurture sequence
Spam → Deletes it
Step 4: AI Follows Up Automatically
Add WhatsApp or SMS module
AI sends a follow-up message in 24 hours if no response
Time saved per week: 20+ hoursHuman cost: £2,000-£3,000/monthAI cost: £250-£400/month
Final Challenge: Can You Build One?Now that you’ve got step-by-step guides, which level will you start with? If you set one of these up today, you’ll save at least 10 hours this week.
And if you get stuck? Drop me a message. I’ll help you fix it.
P.S. Here’s a cool prompt you can use in ChatGPT to help you build a scenario in Make.com:
‘Explain to me like I am 10 years old, how to use Make.com to build a scenario to scrape property information with OpenAI, Apify, and Airtable, analyse properties that match my [chosen HMO/SA] strategy on this spreadsheet attached [attach your sheet], and bring back the top 5 matches emailed in a report to my Gmail/Outlook every morning at 7 AM. Include as much information about the property and the local area, detailed analysis with ROI, yields, projections. Give me the prompts and the scenario flow, walk me through step by step.’
LinkedIn: Hayley Brown
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