Make your market updates more valuable (in less time)

Hey hey!

Over the years, I’ve had many discussions with agents about what makes a great weekly market update to your database.

I could wax lyrical about all sorts of things, like consumer preferences, buyer personas, great formatting, and engaging information, but instead, I will say one thing and one thing only.

The best market update is the market update that gets done and goes out consistently, week in and week out.

(Yes, you read that right!)

But that can be hard unless you have a framework, a template and constant sources of inspiration*

Today’s Quick Win

Today, I’d like to give you a prompt for writing market updates that people will read and share. It will take you less time to hit generate than it takes to order and drink your coffee on Monday morning.

The approach

Let's be honest: Your clients can find basic property data anywhere.

The mainstream media is full of data and headlines.

What people in your local community can’t find is your take on what those numbers mean for their street, their investment, and their next move.

Think about the last time you read a market update from another agent. Did you make it past the first paragraph? Did you learn anything useful? This is your chance to be different - to be the agent who makes sense of the market for their clients.

The Market Pulse Prompt

What You'll Need:

• A quick check of Domain, Proptrack or CoreLogic or the MLS stats for your market area

• 1-2 notable local market developments or news items

• Your most recent transaction experience or client observation

The Prompt:

You're a local property expert writing a market update for your database. Use these data points and observations: 

[INSERT YOUR MARKET INFO]
[INSERT YOUR MARKET INFO]
[INSERT YOUR MARKET INFO]

Write a brief market update that:
1. Opens with an interesting local insight (not just numbers)
2. Explains what this means for homeowners
3. Includes a real example from your week
4. Gives one clear next step

Write it like you're having a chat over coffee - clear, simple, and genuine. Add a light touch of humour if something interesting stands out.

Make it about 300 words - enough to be valuable, not so long they stop reading.

Where I’ve got [INSERT YOUR MARKET INFO], you’ll input your own dot points observations about what happened on the weekend - how many people went through your open homes, how many buyers missed out at auction - in other words, the micro-moments that your community can’t get from the mainstream data outlets.

You can further make it your own by adding a little more flavour:

• For premium properties, Add "Focus on the top 25% of your market"

• For investors: Add "Include rental yields and recent sales to investors."

• For first-time buyers: Add "Highlight entry-level options."

Here's how it makes you stand out

The Standard Agent Approach:

"Latest market data shows the median house price is $1.2M with clearance rates at 65%. Properties are taking an average of 28 days to sell."

A Differentiated (and Better Approach):

I noticed something interesting at my open homes last weekend. While everyone's talking about interest rates, I saw more second-home buyers looking than I've seen in months. Three different couples mentioned they were making moves while others were waiting.

In our local area, we've had 12 sales this month. Worth noting: a three-bedroom home on Smith Street received five offers in two days. Here's what the numbers aren't showing you - four of those buyers are still looking and ready to buy.

For homeowners thinking about their next move? There might be more opportunity here than the headlines suggest..."

Why This Works:

• Shows real market activity, not just statistics

• Provides local context that matters to your readers and shows the human as the expert

• Makes the next steps clear and simple
  

IRL… (In real life)

Where To Use It:

• Your weekly email update

• Your social media posts (break it into smaller pieces or carousels)

• Conversations at open homes (subscribe to our weekly updates)

Quick Tips:

• Turn ChatGPTs New Search Function on - it will help pull the interesting facts from the web.

• Write your newsletter on Sunday night (fresh from the weekend) for Monday sending

• Write down other insights during the week

• If folks reply to your emails, get back to them fast.

Will AI write the perfect update immediately? No. You'll want to adjust it. But we're talking about five minutes of editing, not blinking cursors, blank screens and hours of writing.

Share Your Results

• Hit reply and tell me—how did this prompt work for you?

• What kind of responses did you get?

• What would you like help with next?

Happy Hunting 🚀

Coming soon! (and a personal note)

AI-Powered Agents has been on the Beehiiv platform for a year now, and there are a few things I really miss about Substack. One important one is sharing notes, links, and info as they come to hand—particularly in the fast-changing AI space.

To fix this, we’re developing a community on Skool called Spark, which stands for Scalable Property Agent Results Kit (and yes, AI helped me come up with that!).. To be first in the door, sign up here. I’ll be sharing all the in-the-moment stuff there, and we can also discuss results and use cases there.