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Curaytor
ISSUE 022 · SEPTEMBER 3, 2026
YOUR WEEKLY MARKETING PULSE
CURAYTOR’S
AGENT
HOUR
SEPTEMBER 3, 2026
3-minute read • Real estate marketing intel
Welcome to Curaytor’s Agent Hour. Every week, we bring you one marketing idea to use, one social post we liked, and the social media and real estate updates that matter to your business.
■ FROM US
What does that number look like here?
When a national housing story starts making the rounds, it might not match exactly what is happening in your local market. But your job? To turn that into a relevant message to send to your database (or email us at Curaytor for help - we can walk you through it!).
This week, Realtor.com named its top new-construction markets for 2026, and eight of the ten are in the South. If you work in one of those areas, there’s plenty to add from your own market. How many new homes are available? Are builders offering incentives? How do those homes compare with nearby resales?
But if your market isn’t on the list, the idea still applies. Choose a current housing story your clients may have seen and add the local information missing from the national report. One or two numbers from your MLS, along with what you’re hearing in client conversations, is enough for a useful email.
■ COOL INSTAGRAM POST WE SAW
Team Hatvany Kitchen’s Pacific Heights sale carousel on Instagram
@hatvanyrealestate on Instagram
Team Hatvany Kitchen’s carousel begins with a major press headline: a Pacific Heights home listed for $3.99 million, received 16 offers, and sold for a whopping $6.63 million. Of course, with numbers like that, we wanted to know the full story.
We won’t give away everything they shared, but the rest of the carousel keeps the story moving with listing photos, short copy, and a closer look at what buyers responded to.
If you have a recent sale with an interesting story behind it, this is a good example to save. Maybe your buyers loved the built-in shelving in the living room, the first weekend on the market brought an unexpected turnout, or your marketing reached someone you hadn’t heard from before. Those details are part of the sale too, and they’re often the part people remember.
See Team Hatvany Kitchen’s post
■ WHAT’S NEW IN SOCIAL
01
YOUTUBE
Google is testing messaging from YouTube ads
Google is testing a Demand Gen option that lets someone move from a YouTube ad into a conversation with the advertiser through a messaging app.
Imagine someone watching a video tour and wanting to know whether the home has an open house this weekend. Rather than searching for the listing page or contact form, they could ask from the ad.
The test is beginning with select advertisers, so you’re probably not going to see this option in your account just yet. Still, it’s interesting to see Google making room for the quick questions that often begin a real estate conversation.
Source: Google, August 27
02
Instagram is renaming its AI creator label
Instagram is replacing its “AI creator” label with “AI-generated profile.” The updated wording applies to accounts built around AI-generated people, and Instagram says it may limit distribution when those profiles aren’t labeled.
This is separate from the labels Instagram uses on individual AI-generated images and videos. The new profile label addresses the identity presented by the account itself.
If you use an AI version of yourself in videos or other content, take a look at Instagram’s explanation of the new label and whether it applies to your profile.
Source: Instagram, August 31
03
LinkedIn reports a rise in inauthentic activity
LinkedIn reported a 46% increase in detected inauthentic activity during the first half of 2026 compared with the second half of 2025.
That category includes engagement pods, automated comments, artificial profiles, and coordinated activity created to increase engagement numbers. LinkedIn says it is continuing to improve how it identifies and removes this activity.
The report also helps explain why a post can sometimes get a ton of comments without actual conversations happening. Automated engagement may add to the numbers, but it can’t offer a thoughtful response to the person who wrote the post.
Source: Social Media Today, September 1
■ BY THE NUMBERS
35%
Redfin found that the typical home in an area by a public high school rated 8 to 10 by GreatSchools costs $580,000. That’s 35% more than the typical U.S. home price of $430,000.
The difference changes considerably from one city to another. In Little Rock, homes near highly rated schools cost 5% less than the metro average. In Philadelphia, they cost nearly 94% more.
School ratings are one part of a much larger decision. Families may also be considering specific programs, district boundaries, commute, housing costs, and their own priorities. Like we mentioned earlier, the national numbers are interesting, but your local expertise is where the conversation becomes much more useful to your database.
Source: Redfin, September 2
8 OF
10
Eight of Realtor.com’s top 10 new-construction markets for 2026 are in the South, and six are located in North or South Carolina.
The ranking considered the availability of new homes, how their prices compare with existing homes, climate risk, listing views, and time on market. That combination gives a broader view of where new construction is both available and attracting attention.
For buyers comparing a new build with a resale home, the advertised price is only the beginning. Builder incentives, HOA costs, completion dates, warranties, and possible upgrades can all change the numbers before they make a decision.
Source: Realtor.com, August 31
-2.5%
Fannie Mae’s Purchase Application-Level Index was down 2.5% from a year earlier and 0.9% from the previous week for the week ending August 28.
The index is based on purchase loans submitted through Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter. It isn’t a count of every mortgage application in the country, but it provides a current look at one part of buyer activity.
If you have buyers who worked through payment numbers earlier this year, this may be a good week to revisit them with a lender. A change in the rate, insurance, taxes, or price range can alter the monthly total they’re working with.
Source: Fannie Mae, September 1
■ WORTH KNOWING
LISTING STUDIO
Put the whole listing campaign in one place
How many links and screenshots does it take to show a seller everything you’re doing to market their home?
Listing Studio’s Seller Report gathers the property landing page, social posts, ads, email marketing, views, clicks, and any custom work you’ve added. It refreshes every 24 hours, so you can send one branded report rather than piecing the update together each time.
The same report can be saved after closing. When a future seller asks what your marketing includes, you’ll have a completed campaign to walk through with them.
If you’d like help creating a Seller Report for a current listing, reach out to us.
Explore Listing Studio
PASS IT ON
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