As far as photos rounding out inspection and appraisal reports, many real estate professionals would argue those pictures can have an even higher value. Given that, restb.ai is teaming up with ATTOM to ensure that their users’ real estate reports are as precise as they can possibly be, according to ATTOM.

Angel Esteban, the founder of restb.ai, in searching for a home, learned that the quality of listings could vary widely and that the listing photos he relied on to tell him if a property was a good match for his needs couldn’t be trusted to tell the full story.

While Esteban eventually did find a home that suited his family’s needs, he knew there had to be a better way.

“He wanted to find a way to provide information about available properties that was more user-centric, rather than being so focused on the listing itself,” Leonardo Giacomet, a senior product manager for restb.ai, said in the ATTOM article posted on the company site.

Soon after, Esteban began talking about his experience with eventual co-founder, Xavi Hernando, both experts in the field of artificial intelligence (AI.) They quickly realized the wealth of untapped data that was available from listing photos and how recent developments in computer vision and AI could turn the home-buying experience on its head.

restb.ai started out only focusing on compliance data. For example, their technology could determine if an MLS photo had a watermark on it that violated its use standards. However, since then, restb.ai’s abilities have grown significantly.

“We can now track over 700 data points from images,” Giacomet said. “We can tell if a kitchen is L-shaped, has hardwood floors, as well as its overall condition and quality in a matter of seconds. Previously, you could only do that with a human reviewer, and it would take much more time.”

In partnering with ATTOM to enhance the quality of inspections and appraisals, restb.ai uses AI’s capabilities to automatically review appraisal and inspection photos. Then, using the data it extracts from those photos, it can populate appraisal and inspection reports in a fraction of the time it would take an inspector or appraiser to do the same job.

To illustrate how both sources can work together, Giacomet said combining photo insights with other data sources can help one understand not only the size of the basement, but also whether it’s finished, if it has a low ceiling, or even if certain equipment is present, like a sump pump or furnace.

To the team at restb.ai, ATTOM was the ideal partner to help them unlock more information from these photos. restb.ai primarily leverages tax assessor data from ATTOM to auto populate real estate tax information for every property. However, by combining image insights and tax assessor data, restb.ai is also working to enhance the quality of existing appraisal and inspection reports.

“We also can use our models to tell the appraiser, lender or other user about potential inconsistencies,” Giacomet said. “We can say, ‘Hey, the public record says one thing, but the picture tells a different story.’ Restb.ai technology alerts the user that they need to take a second look to ensure the quality of the report.”