The Chris List™

Before you dig in this week, I have two things happening that you don't want to miss.

Tomorrow, I'm joining Sharran Srivatsaa, Selene Hanna, Byron Lazine, and Eric Simon for a free 2.5-hour virtual event built specifically for agents who want the tools, tactics, and content strategy to get more listings.

​RSVP for BAM Fest here

Then, on Thursday, I'm hosting a live 2-hour workshop on creating hyper-local content with AI.

Every tool gets demoed live. Every prompt gets shared. You'll leave with a workflow you can use the same day.

​Register for Thursday here​

Both are free. Both are this week.

If you're serious about staying ahead, there's no reason not to be on both calls.

Now here's this week's Chris List...

📝 [C]ontent: The "ghost agent" era is here and it's creepy AF

🛠 [H]ow-To: Claude is the AI GOAT and just RIP'd Canva

🔬 [R]esearch: Seller confidence vs. seller reality

🎨 [I]nspiration: IKEA's Allen key jewelry just broke the internet

📝 [S]wipes: Send these before and after your listing appointment

📝 [C]ONTENT

An old woman has been talking to her dead son for months. She has no idea. 💀

Two stories dropped this week that, on the surface, have nothing to do with real estate.

Together, they describe exactly where this industry is headed.

Story 1: Mark Zuckerberg is building a 3D AI clone of himself, trained on his voice, mannerisms, and strategic thinking, so employees can interact with "him" without ever needing him in the room.

Story 2: A family in China created an AI clone of their son after he died in a car accident. His elderly mother has been video calling him for months. She has no idea he's gone.

One is a productivity experiment. One is a grief story. Both are a preview.

Because here's what I'm 100% certain we'll start to see in real estate:

Top producers "retiring" to their lake house while their AI handles the touchpoints.

Team leaders scaling to 50 agents while a digital version of them does the coaching.

Rainmakers building a brand so big, so trained on their voice and content, that clients feel a relationship that the agent isn't actually maintaining.

It sounds efficient. And it is, right up until it isn't.

The Chinese mother trusted the voice on the screen because it sounded like her son. She had no reason to question it. That trust was built over a lifetime of real relationship.

Zuckerberg's employees will interact with his clone because they already know who he is. The AI is borrowing credibility that the human built.

Here's the Realtor version of this problem:

AI can maintain the appearance of a relationship. It cannot maintain the relationship itself.

The agents who will win long-term aren't the ones who disappear behind their AI the fastest.

They're the ones who use AI to handle the noise so they can show up harder for the moments that actually matter: the inspection that goes sideways, the seller who calls at 9pm panicking, the first-time buyer who just needs someone to tell them it's going to be okay.

Clients don't just want information. They want to know someone is actually there.

The agents who figure out that balance, AI for scale, human for trust, will be untouchable.

The ones who outsource the relationship entirely?

Their clients will eventually figure it out. Just like that mother will.

🛠 [H]OW-TO

Claude just launched a design tool. Every Realtor should use it. 🎨

You already use ChatGPT to write. You already use Canva to design.

Now there's something that does both, and it might replace half your marketing stack.

Anthropic just launched Claude Design, and if you're on Claude Pro ($20/month), you already have access. No extra cost.

Here's what it actually does:

You type a prompt. Claude asks a few clarifying questions. Then it generates a first version of whatever you need: landing pages, pitch decks, one-pagers, social assets, even interactive experiences with video and 3D visuals.

But here's what makes it different from just prompting ChatGPT:

After the first draft, you can chat with Claude to refine it, leave comments on specific sections, edit text directly, or use custom sliders to adjust spacing, color, and layout in real time.

No prompt required. Just drag.

It also connects to your existing brand. During setup, Claude Design reads your files and builds a design system around your colors, fonts, and aesthetic.

Every project after that stays on-brand automatically.

The Realtor use cases are obvious:

Turn your monthly market stats into a shareable one-pager before your listing appointment.

Build a neighborhood guide landing page without touching Figma or paying a designer.

Create a pitch deck for a seller presentation from a rough outline in minutes.

Generate social assets that match your brand without opening Canva.

The catch:

It's still in preview and counts toward your Claude subscription limits. But if you're already paying $20/month for Pro, there's zero reason not to try it.

Claude has officially surpassed ChatGPT as the best AI platform, and if I am being honest, it isn't even close.

🔬 [R]ESEARCH

83% of sellers expect to get their asking price or more 💯

Realtor.com just dropped its 2026 Spring Seller Survey, and the headline is optimism:

83% of potential sellers expect to get their asking price or more.

Three-quarters think now is a good time to sell.

Most expect to be under contract within four months.

Cool. But here's where it gets interesting.

39% of sellers now expect to make concessions, up from 30% in 2025. That 9-point jump in a single year is the tell.

Sellers are still confident, they've just quietly started pricing in the reality check.

Timing expectations are also a little rosy. The typical home is sitting on market for 57 days nationally right now.

Most sellers think they'll beat that. Some will. Many won't.

The geographic split is where agents should pay close attention.

Only 26% of the 50 largest metros are actually seller's markets right now, mostly concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast.

The buyer's markets? All eight of them are in the South or West: Austin, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami.

So while sellers in Hartford or Chicago can price aggressively and hold firm, sellers in Florida and Texas are playing a completely different game, and most of them don't know it yet.

What this means for your business:

If you're in a buyer's market, the best thing you can do for a seller right now is give them the real numbers before they list, not after they've been sitting for 60 days wondering what went wrong.

And this: if a home doesn't sell on their timeline, 35% will cut price, 34% will wait it out, and 29% will pull the listing entirely.

That last number is your warning shot. Sellers have equity and options. They will ghost the market before they'll take a lowball.

Price it right from day one. The data says that's the whole game this spring.

🎨 [I]NSPIRATION

IKEA turned a tool into jewelry and it went viral 🔧

You know the Allen key.

The little hex wrench that comes with every IKEA purchase, gets used once, and then disappears into a junk drawer forever.

IKEA looked at that forgotten tool and thought: what if it was a necklace?

They launched the ALLËNKI, a fully functional Allen key redesigned as a grungy, industrial pendant.

It can still tighten your furniture. It just looks cool doing it.

The internet lost its mind. Comments flooded in: "NEED 🔥🔥," "this is actually cool," requests for custom versions.

What started as an April Fool's joke turned into one of the most talked-about brand moments of the month.

Here's why it worked:

IKEA didn't invent something new. They took an object already embedded in global consumer memory and put it in a completely different context.

That's it. That's the whole trick.

The tension between "this is absurd" and "wait, I actually want that" is exactly what drives shares, comments, and press coverage without spending a dollar on media.

The Realtor version of this:

You have brand assets hiding in plain sight that you've stopped seeing.

Your SOLD sign. Your lockbox. Your floor plan. Your keychain.

What if your next open house giveaway wasn't a magnet or a calendar, but something unexpected that used your brand imagery in a way nobody saw coming?

A custom keychain shaped like your neighborhood's most iconic street corner.

A "keys to your new home" box that doubles as a keepsake.

A branded toolbox for new homeowners with your logo on it.

The point isn't to be weird for weird's sake.

It's to find the thing in your world that everyone overlooks, and make people see it differently.

IKEA didn't have a big idea. They had a small one, executed with confidence.

That's always been the move.

📝 [S]WIPES

Use this data. Win the listing. Pre and post appt swipes 📊

Based on the research from today's newsletter: 83% of sellers expect to get their asking price or more this spring, but 39% also expect to make concessions, up nearly 10 points from last year.

The typical home is sitting on market for 57 days nationally. And if a home doesn't sell on their timeline, 29% of sellers will pull the listing entirely rather than cut the price.

That's the market you're walking into every listing appointment right now.

Here are three ways to use that data before, during, and after the appointment.

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📨 Email Swipe: Pre-Appointment Credibility Builder

Subject: A few numbers you should see before we meet

Hi [Name],

I pulled some fresh data I want to walk you through when we meet.

83% of sellers this spring expect to get their asking price or more. That confidence is real, and I want you to be in that camp.

What I also know: 39% of sellers are having to make concessions this year, up sharply from last year.

And homes that aren't priced correctly from day one are sitting an average of 57 days before anything happens.

The difference between the sellers who win and the ones who wait? Pricing strategy in week one.

I'll show you exactly where your home lands when we sit down.

See you [day/time].

[Your Name]

📲 Text Swipe: Post-Appointment Price Confirmation

Hey [Name], great meeting today. Wanted to send you one stat that stuck with me after we talked.

29% of sellers who don't sell in their target window pull their listing entirely rather than reduce. The ones who avoid that almost always priced right from the start.

Based on everything we looked at today, I think [price] gets you there. Happy to talk through it before you decide.

📘 Social Post Swipe: Listing Season Reality Check

If you're thinking about selling this spring, here's what the data actually says right now.

83% of sellers expect their asking price or more. Good news.

39% also expect to make concessions. Up nearly 10 points from last year.

57 days. That's how long the average home is sitting on market nationally right now.

The sellers who beat those numbers aren't lucky. They priced correctly in week one, listed during peak buyer demand, and worked with an agent who told them the truth before the sign went in the yard.

The spring window is open right now. But it won't be for long.

If you want to know exactly where your home stands in this market, that conversation starts with me.

[CTA: Link in bio / DM me / Call or text ###]

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The agents who win listings this spring won't be the ones with the best pitch.

They'll be the ones who walked in with the best data.

Print these out. Use them. The numbers do the selling for you.