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Gio Helou’s ‘sassy’ new AI assistant tasked with cutting agent costs

April 17, 2026

Gio Helou, a star in the show “Selling the OC” and co-founder of UseLois, an AI transaction coordinator for real estate, is pictured in Costa Mesa on Thursday, April 9, 2026. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Neighbors Ryan Burke, left, and Gio Helou, a star in the show “Selling the OC,” are co-founders of UseLois, an AI transaction coordinator for real estate, are pictured in Costa Mesa, on Thursday, April 9, 2026. When Helou and Burke were brainstorming ideas for UseLois, they sat on the floor at Helou’s house amongst his 3-year-old son’s toys. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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Luxury real estate agent Gio Helou, known for Netflix’s “Selling the OC,” believes agents can hold onto more of their commissions by using an AI assistant to handle busywork. He has just the one in mind.

Call her “Lois.”

The platform, officially UseLois.ai, bypassed the boardroom and began at a local park. As the story goes, Helou and neighbor Ryan Burke — a tech veteran and fellow dad — dreamed up the concept during playdates, sketching the framework while their kids napped.

They aimed to automate the workflow of a transaction coordinator, who acts as the project manager for the “under contract” phase of a real estate deal. The role involves managing the high-volume paperwork and deadlines required to close a sale. This includes coordinating the signing of disclosures and monitoring escrow progress.

“The transaction coordinator is the middle person between the agent and all the parties involved,” Helou said. “Once a Realtor has an accepted contract, they just upload it to UseLois and provide the contact info. The AI parses all the data and essentially runs on autopilot, communicating via email and SMS to keep deadlines on track.”

Burke initially pitched the idea after asking if AI could replicate the role his mother once held.

“I thought it was a really sweet niche to dive into,” Helou said by phone.

Although many agents handle these tasks themselves to avoid the expense, some agents or brokers hire transaction coordinators on a pay-per-file basis to lighten the workload. Larger brokerages or high-volume teams often hire full-time coordinators.

UseLois independently handles a coordinator’s duties, managing the paperwork trail from contract to closing without manual oversight. While Helou stresses the platform isn’t out to eliminate jobs, he sees it as a necessary evolution for a new world where agents are being squeezed.

The soon-to-launch AI coincides with two major headwinds making it harder to close deals. Recent legal changes have made agent commission rates negotiable, creating friction over who pays the professionals involved in a sale. Add to that a projected 16% spike in homeowners insurance premiums increasing monthly housing costs, which can disqualify some buyers from their loans at the finish line.

While a human coordinator can charge from $300 to up to $1,000 per deal, Helou said, UseLois charges a flat $99 per deal.

“If your commission is being squeezed, giving $600 to a transaction coordinator instead of $99 is a big difference,” Helou said. “That’s a car payment; that’s real money.”

Southern California News Group spoke with Helou about his move into property-tech in anticipation of the official launch of UseLois this summer.

Q: Is UseLois named after a real person?

Gio: She’s actually based on my existing transaction coordinator, Lois Smith. We even brought her on as a strategic adviser to help us test the platform. The real-life Lois is a bit of a firecracker — she’s sassy, sarcastic and the best at what she does. We’re infusing that personality into the AI.

Real estate can be a boring, black-and-white world, so we want Lois to have some color. When she’s interacting with Realtors, she might make fun of you or pop up with a message like, “Well, it’s about time you put something into escrow!” It adds some levity to a very stressful industry.

Q: When UseLois is talking to clients, does she keep that same sassy attitude?

Gio: The communication UseLois has with a client will be very professional. We want to be personable and humorous in the user interface and on social media because the real estate community has a specific sense of humor, but we keep it strictly business when it comes to the actual escrow parties.

Q: With AI handling sensitive contracts, how are you ensuring client data stays private?

Gio: UseLois is equipped with bank-level encryption. It’s also important to note that we aren’t replacing the escrow company. We communicate with escrow, but we are never involved in asking for bank details or wire transfers. That remains 100% an escrow responsibility.

(Editor’s note: Co-founder Ryan Burke provided additional technical specifics on the platform’s security architecture.)

Ryan: UseLois never touches Social Security numbers, bank accounts or wiring info — that data doesn’t enter our system. We read purchase agreements for what agents need to coordinate: party names, contact info, property details and contract dates. Nothing more.

Q: Is that data siloed or pooled?

Ryan: Siloed. Each agent’s deals are walled off from every other user in the system — including other agents at the same brokerage. Nobody sees anyone else’s data.

Q: How do you prevent info from leaking into the AI model?

Ryan: We use Anthropic’s Claude API, which contractually prohibits training on customer data. Nothing is retained by the AI. Deal records stay in the agent’s own account for their archive and compliance — never shared across users, never fed back into any model.

Q: AI is known to “hallucinate” or miss details. Where does the liability rest if Lois misses a deadline?

Gio: We are extremely confident in the build, but we do ask that the agent verify the dates when UseLois parses them. She will very clearly ask, “Did I get these right?” to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. While there are other automated programs out there, what we’re doing in terms of simplicity and capability is really a whole new world.

Q: Looking at the big picture, is your future as a real estate agent who owns a tech company or a tech CEO who happens to sell real estate?

Gio: The keyword I tell myself all the time is “adapt.” I don’t think Realtors will be replaced in the near future, but I want to find a way to help them save money — and save myself money, too. I don’t plan to stop selling real estate anytime soon, but I have high hopes for UseLois becoming a brand and a personality in her own right.

Q: You’re about to have two kids under age 3 this summer. Is building UseLois a way to buy back your own time?

Gio: I love being a dad and I want to be as present as possible in these early years. That’s why my co-founder and I are putting our blood, sweat and tears into this in the wee hours of the night or morning. We love our day jobs, but the way the world is moving, you have to try to stay one step ahead.

Q: Are you actually using it?

Gio: I am. I’ve been doing fake deals internally to get all the bugs out because we really want it to be perfect when we officially launch.

Q: Is this a luxury tool designed for the top 1% of agents?

Gio: On the contrary. It’s actually geared more toward average agents who handle the majority of sales in the state. California will be the first to launch, and from there we’re going to roll it out state-by-state (with Texas planned next). This is going to save the average agent money and make their lives easier.

About Gio Helou

Age: 38

Title: Co-founder of UseLois.ai

Hometown: Costa Mesa

Education: Earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater and screen arts from Pepperdine University’s Seaver College.

Experience: Prior to his work in AI and luxury real estate, Gio worked in residential development. He has been a main cast member of the Netflix reality series “Selling the OC” since the “Selling Sunset” spin-off premiered in August 2022. While the show aired its fourth season in November 2025, production on a fifth season is on an indefinite pause.

On the AI revolution: Views the rise of AI with a mix of optimism and caution. “It’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, I’m fully embracing it and all the amazing things it can do to make life easier or more efficient. On the flip side, I have huge concerns for my children’s generation,” he said as he and his wife, Tiffany, prepare to welcome their second child this June, “and what the world is going to look like for them. It’s almost too overwhelming for my brain to really grasp.”

Gio Helou’s ‘sassy’ new AI assistant tasked with cutting agent costs Orange County Register

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Gio Helou’s ‘sassy’ new AI assistant tasked with cutting agent costs

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