May Update

Team,

Wowza! May moved fast. Thank you for the way you showed up. Turnout for the hackathon and team meetings was outstanding. Database activity held strong with great conversation, appointment numbers, and follow-up tightened over the last two months. That activity compounds over time. Great work.

Market Snapshot

There is no "Phoenix market" anymore. There are 18 of them.  Before we jump into what I mean by that, here’s a quick refresh on the Cromford Market Index(CMI). Remember 100-110 is a balanced market.  Above 110 leans towards a seller’s market and below 100 a buyer’s market.  The Cromford Index for Greater Phoenix sits at 82.2, which says buyer-leaning.  That number doesn’t tell the whole story. Phoenix proper is 128.3. Scottsdale 125.1. Fountain Hills 159.6 and climbing. Meanwhile Buckeye is 52.1 and Queen Creek 57.7, both deep buyer's market. Nine cities are moving toward buyers, eight toward sellers, all inside the same metro. The agent who quotes the headline number to a client is doing them a disservice. We should be pulling the data for the city/zip/neighborhood your client is buying or selling in, and build your strategy from there. The wrong read on the submarket can be very costly.

Price discipline at launch is the whole game. 73% of last month's Greater Phoenix closings landed below original asking. Only 12% closed above. But the homes that sold in their first 30 days still hit 98.38% of list. The market is rewarding sharp pricing and punishing aspiration. Average DOM is now 82 days. That is what "trying a number" costs.

One more thing: 30-year rates are back to the mid to high 6’s. The seller conversation has shifted from price to payment. More on that in the Must Read at the end.

The work before the moment

Last week I spent two days in Houston with Tom Ferry and a small group of team leaders. These were top operators from around the country. While we ideated on various topics, one of the dominating conversations was the use of AI in our businesses . Specifically where the leverage is, what to build first.  Tom had a couple experts there set to walk us through using Claude for dashboarding business insights, AI blog creation and other topics

We had to pause the workshop.

Most of the people in the room didn't have an account set up.

That's not a knock on them. These are sharp people. But it stuck with me on the flight home, because it told me something about where this team is.

A lot of you have told me you feel behind on AI. You're not. You're not even close to behind. What you're feeling is the gap between where you are and where you want to be. It means you're paying attention.

The people who win the next chapter of this business won't be the ones who flip a switch the day it matters. They'll be the ones putting in quiet reps now. Weekly…Daily..without an audience. Building the habits the rest of the industry will scramble to learn later.

So ask the question. Every day. On a listing prep, a CMA, a follow-up email, a tough seller conversation: "How can AI help me here?" Try it. Keep what works. That's the whole game right now.  Build your AI literacy! Pipeline Builders, May 2026

This is what "the work before the moment" looks like in our CRM. Top 5 agents by total activity in Follow Up Boss for May:

Rank	Agent	Activity Score	Standout
1	Jake Wooten	31,198	15 hrs 31 min on conversations (most on the team)
2	Laura Young	24,743	40 appointments set (most on the team)
3	Tim Dossey	23,621	3,499 emails sent
4	Tanya Whitman	19,666	1,000 texts
5	Ikaezia Brannies	19,355	11 hrs 24 min on conversations (2nd on the team)

What this team did together in May:

• 708 appointments set; down slightly from April w/ 859 appts

• 2,500 conversations, totaling 16 days and 12 hours of actual voice time

• 15,291 call attempts

• 25,708 texts

• 47,350 emails

That is what a worked database looks like. Still room for improvement, but overall great stats!

A special shout out to Angie Arteaga. Our ISA logged 2,299 call attempts and 931 texts in May. Angie is the engine behind a lot of the conversations our agents walk into already qualified. Thank you, Angie. Meet Ethan

You've heard me talk about it. Here's what it actually looks like in the wild.

Over the last couple of weeks, Ethan, our AI ISA, reached out to 8000 cold leads that have resulted in 80+ warm handoffs. This is still in beta and there’s a small group of team agents working these warm conversations.  My big takeaway…AI conversations are feeling more real.

Here are three examples of text threads between AI Ethan and some old cold contacts in our database:  An investor with 50 flips under his belt looking for fire-and-flood deals. A motivated seller staring down a leased solar deadline in August. An out-of-state owner paying double housing while his Phoenix place sits empty.

Cold lead in. Qualified appointment out. No agent time spent until the conversation is worth having.

This is what we've been building toward. Worth the five minutes to read through the actual conversations: See Ethan in Action → Events

Rebrand Event on June 16th | 10:30 am - 2:00 pm | @ 435 Collective 435 S 3rd Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85003

We can't wait to show you what we've come up with! This is the one team event you don't want to miss this year. Block the day. 

On top of learning all about our rebrand, we'll have a fingerprint station, a headshot station, a swag station, and so much more!! And yep, we're going to feed you too!

Please be sure to RSVP so that you don't miss out on the fun! The Evite was sent out on May 12th. If you can't find it, email Ashley.

Arrive between 10:30 am and 10:45 am to mingle and be ready for the presentation to start at 11:00 am.

We are canceling the June 9th Zoom All-Agent and this EVENT will replace that All-Agent meeting.

If you have questions, email Ashley Thomas at ashley@laughtonteam.com What I'm Reading

Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby. The big idea has refreshed how I think about leadership this season: pay attention to where momentum already exists and join it there, instead of running ahead with your own plan and trying to force the thing you wish was working. 

Just for Fun

Mark Rober's $60 Million Science Experiment →

Watched this with the boys last night and loved every minute. Mark Rober, former NASA engineer who landed rovers on Mars, is spending $60 million to build a free STEM curriculum because he wants the next generation to fall back in love with curiosity. 18 minutes, funny and smart. Worth the watch. Must Read Article

The Payment Math Changed Again →

Rates are back in the mid-6s and the payment objection is about to dominate your next listing appointment. This piece reframes the whole pricing conversation away from comps and toward payment math, including this line worth stealing:

"Rates affect what buyers can justify, so we need to launch at a number that makes sense in today's payment environment."

Quote

Song for the month:

Anne-Marie & Ed Sheeran — 2002 (Acoustic)

This one just makes me smile!  I’ve watched it far too many times.

Proud of you. See you on the 16th.

GL