Claude Cowork Setup for Real Estate Agents: Every Setting to Change First

Jerad Larkin

2 minutes ago

9 min read

What Claude settings should a real estate agent turn on first? Turn on chat search and memory, connector search, and artifacts, set Chrome as your preferred browser, and connect your email and calendar. Then import what ChatGPT already knows about you.

I have Claude writing a blog post for my business every day, on a schedule, with nobody touching it. It has been running for months, and I get one to two inbound leads a week from people who find me online. I cannot tie every one of those leads to a single post, but a stronger online presence is the common thread.

None of that works if Claude is set up wrong. Most agents download it, type a few prompts, and never open the settings. So I taught a full class on Zoom that walks through the whole setup in the order I would do it, from the download to the switches most people never flip.

The recording is right below. Under it is the written version, so you can follow along with Claude open in another window.

https://youtu.be/UnFF5F9FjMs

What this class covers

Why the Claude desktop app matters more than the website
How to install Claude Cowork and the Claude Chrome extension the right way
Which model to use and how usage limits work
The difference between a skill and a connector, and when you need each
The three ways Claude reaches your tools, and which one costs the fewest tokens
Every setting I change, and the few I leave alone
How to move what ChatGPT already knows about you into Claude
How to record a skill by doing the task one time

Why use the Claude desktop app instead of the website?

The website is fine for chatting. The desktop app is where Claude Cowork lives, and Claude Cowork is what lets Claude actually do the work: run the search, build the report, draft the email, and send it if you allow it.

I call that the jump from AI 1.0 to AI 2.0. In 1.0, you type a question into ChatGPT, get an answer, and then you go do the work. In 2.0, you tell Claude to pull closed sales in a subdivision, build a report on why a listing might be overpriced, and draft the email to your seller.

The desktop app can also work out of a folder on your computer. That is how it organizes files, keeps transaction documents straight, and creates things you can send.

How do you set up Claude Cowork, step by step?

Download the desktop app from https://claude.com/download. It works on Mac and PC. Only download it from that address. I know three agents paying $60 a month for a fake Claude they found through a search.
Pick a paid plan. Claude Cowork is included starting with the Pro plan, which is $20 a month billed monthly, or a little less billed annually. Current plans are at https://claude.com/pricing.
Install Google Chrome if you do not already have it. It does not have to be your main browser.
Install the Claude Chrome extension. Search "Claude Chrome extension" in the Chrome Web Store at https://chromewebstore.google.com and click Add to Chrome. Pin it so the orange Claude icon stays in your toolbar.
Log in to the extension with the same Claude account and accept the prompts.
Open the desktop app and click Cowork, not Chat, before you start a task.

Twenty dollars feels like one more subscription. If this gives you back a few hours a month, it pays for itself fast.

What can the Claude Chrome extension do for a real estate agent?

The Chrome extension lets Claude take over a browser tab and complete the task you describe. If you can do it on the internet, it can usually do it for you.

In the class, I asked it to search REcolorado for properties that closed in the last 30 days in Cherry Creek. It confirmed the plan, then ran the search with my hands off the keyboard. Here is what else I showed it doing:

Logging my daily meetings and calls as notes in my CRM
Finding spam and promotional emails and listing them so I can decide what to unsubscribe from
Pulling a farm list and building a market report
Finding and stacking discount codes while shopping
Building a Facebook Marketplace listing
Following a list of agents on Instagram
Building a landing page with an email automation behind it

A few things to know before you start:

Log in first. For anything behind a login, like the MLS or your CRM, you sign in yourself, then let Claude work.
Check your MLS rules. Make sure your MLS allows automated tools before you let any AI run searches for you.
Run more than one tab. You can have several tasks going while you work on something else.
Go easy on social automation. If it starts to look robotic, the platforms push back.

My favorite use is the technical stuff. When there is something online you do not know how to do, ask the extension to do it and watch how it clicks through.

Which Claude model should you use, and how do usage limits work?

Sonnet is the right default for everyday work. Opus is smarter and uses more of your usage, so save it for the tasks Sonnet cannot get right, like a design that has to match your brand exactly. For me, that is about 5% of what I do.

Every plan has usage limits. There is a session limit that resets within hours and a weekly limit on top of it. When I taught this class, I was at 95% of my weekly limit.

When you hit it, you have three choices:

Wait for the reset
Upgrade your plan
Buy extra usage to get you through

If you use Claude seriously on the $20 plan, expect to hit the limit at some point. That is normal, not a sign you did something wrong.

What are Claude skills and connectors?

These two are where Claude starts to feel like it knows your business. You will find both under Customize, in the left sidebar.

Skills

A skill is a saved set of instructions for anything you do on repeat, daily, weekly, or monthly. If you have a prompt you keep copying and pasting, that is a skill waiting to happen.

Calendar availability finder: I ask when I am free for a lunch in the next three weeks, and it checks my calendar and writes the reply.
Listing description writer: written your way, and following Fair Housing and MLS rules every time.

You can build your own, or upload a skill someone else built and make it yours. You also do not have to call a skill by name. Claude looks through your skills and connectors on its own before it starts a task.

Connectors

A connector links Claude to an app you already use. Start with your email and your calendar. From there, look at Google Drive, Microsoft 365, Dropbox, Canva, Slack, Calendly, and Gamma.

On a Mac, the Read and Send iMessages connector lets Claude send personal texts from your own number. I use it to remind people who signed up for a class that it is coming up.

What are the three ways Claude can reach your tools?

A connector. Browse the directory and add the tool.
A custom connector. If your tool is not listed, ask Claude whether one exists. If it does, click Add custom connector and paste in the URL. That is how I run Meta ads through Claude.
The Claude Chrome extension. The fallback for any website, CRM, or app that has neither.

Use connectors whenever you can. They are faster, and they typically use fewer tokens than having the Chrome extension click through a website.

Which Claude settings should real estate agents change?

Click your name in the bottom left corner, then Settings. The order may look a little different on a PC, but the names are the same. Here is what I do in each section.

General

Add your name, what Claude should call you, and your line of work. For the instructions box, ask the AI you already use to write a description of who you are and how you work, then paste it in.

Privacy

I turned off location metadata and the setting that lets my chats help improve the models. That is my preference, not a requirement.

Billing and usage

This is where you see your plan, any extra usage credits, your current session, and your weekly limit.

Capabilities

Connector search: on. Claude suggests connectors that fit what you are working on.
Switch models when a message is flagged: on. Otherwise your chat pauses instead of continuing.
Artifacts: on. Artifacts are things Claude builds for you, like a simple web page, an app, or a tracker.

Claude Cowork

Working folder. Claude picks a default location. I created a Claude folder in my Documents and gave it access to that folder only.
Preferred browser: Chrome. Claude has a built-in browser now too. I tested it, and for now I still get better results with Chrome.

Claude in Chrome

Site permissions: allow all sites, so Claude can work anywhere you send it.
Blocked sites: add your own list. Mine blocks banking, health, financial, government, and crypto sites. I never want Claude touching those, even by accident.

Desktop app

Some tasks need your computer on and Claude running, especially anything that uses the Chrome extension, like booking a dinner reservation. If you set up scheduled tasks, consider turning on run at startup and keeping the computer awake.

Memory

Search and reference chats: on. Claude can pull details from past conversations.
Generate memory from chats: on. Claude keeps learning how you work.
Import memory: do it once. Click Start import, copy the prompt, paste it into ChatGPT or whatever AI knows you best, then paste the response back and click Add to memory. It takes about a minute.

How do you get Claude to know you fast?

You do not have to start from zero. Pick one of these:

Import memory from the Memory settings above. Fastest option.
Ask your old AI for everything it knows about you and upload that file to Claude. Some tools email it to you later instead of giving it to you right away.
Have Claude interview you. Tell it to ask you questions, back and forth, until it understands who you are, what you do, who you serve, and what your brand is about.

How do you record a Claude skill?

This is the easiest way to build a skill, and it is on Mac. In Skills, choose to record a skill and click Start recording. Then do the task one time while you talk through it.

Claude watches your screen and listens to you, for up to 10 minutes. Click Done, and it turns what you did into a skill it can repeat.

Which two skills should real estate agents build first?

A brand brain. Everything about who you are, what you do, who you serve, and what your brand stands for. Mine is called the Mile High Brand Brain.
A voice skill. Connect your email and ask Claude to study how you write: how you say hello, how you sign off, how you answer people. Mine went through five years of email in about 45 minutes and came back with a document around 20 pages long.

Once the voice skill exists, take it a step further:

Ask Claude to list the 20 emails you answer most often that need a reply but no real work
Set up a scheduled task that checks your inbox every two hours and drafts replies to those

Mine is called Inbox Watcher. It drafts replies in my tone, and it runs on its own.

What are scheduled tasks and projects in Claude?

Scheduled tasks are jobs Claude runs on a timer. My daily blog post is one. Inbox Watcher is another. Others update my CRM and track my daily activity.

Projects work like projects in ChatGPT or Gems in Gemini. Each one has its own instructions, its own chat history, and can reference a folder of files. For an agent, a listing description project or a client communication project is a good place to start.

As an Account Executive with Chicago Title of Colorado, I teach these classes because the agents I work with across Denver Metro are all asking the same thing: where do I start? This is the setup I would hand anyone on day one.

FAQ

Do I need to pay for Claude to use Claude Cowork?

Yes. Claude Cowork is included starting with the Pro plan, which is $20 a month billed monthly. Current pricing is at https://claude.com/pricing. If you use it heavily, expect to hit usage limits and decide whether to wait, upgrade, or buy extra usage.

Do I have to stop using ChatGPT to use Claude?

No. Plenty of agents use both. If you do switch most of your work to Claude, use the memory import so it picks up what ChatGPT already knows about you.

What is the difference between a Claude skill and a connector?

A skill is a saved set of instructions for a task you repeat, like writing listing descriptions. A connector links Claude to an app you use, like Gmail or Google Calendar. Skills tell Claude how to do something, and connectors give it access to where the work happens.

Is it safe to let Claude use my browser?

Claude asks for permission before it acts until you choose to give it more freedom, and you log in to sites yourself. Add a blocked sites list for banking, health, and government sites, and check your MLS rules before you let any AI tool run searches for you.

Does Claude Cowork work on a PC?

Yes. The desktop app is available for Mac and PC. A few features, like recording a skill and the iMessage connector, are Mac only, and some settings may be arranged a little differently on Windows.

Pick one setting and do it now

You do not need to do all of this at once. Turn on the two memory settings and run the memory import. That alone makes every chat after it better.

If you get stuck connecting something, or you are trying to build an automation that will not cooperate, reach out to me.

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