--- name: al-464-give-your-ai-a-goal-not-a-task-tell-it-you-want-to-cut-va description: "In AppFolio's Fall 2026 product update (October 30, 2026), the company describes the new Realm-X as starting from a goal rather than a task: tell it what you want, such as reducing vacancy at a property or increasing revenue before the quarter closes, and it builds a plan using your portfolio data in real time. From there you can ask questions about documents, drill from portfolio-wide insights to individual properties, visualise the data and export reports, and it can take actions like sending personalised messages at scale, opening work orders, initiating bills and flagging delinquent accounts, while the team keeps oversight and control. The same update says the Realm-X Connector in Claude is now out of beta for all customers. The prompt below gets the planning half of that workflow from any AI assistant using the reports you export. Use when the user wants help with goal-based property plans (operations) for a small business." --- # Give your AI a goal, not a task: tell it you want to cut vacancy at one rental property, and have it build a step-by-step plan from your own portfolio data that you approve before any message goes out or work order opens In AppFolio's Fall 2026 product update (October 30, 2026), the company describes the new Realm-X as starting from a goal rather than a task: tell it what you want, such as reducing vacancy at a property or increasing revenue before the quarter closes, and it builds a plan using your portfolio data in real time. From there you can ask questions about documents, drill from portfolio-wide insights to individual properties, visualise the data and export reports, and it can take actions like sending personalised messages at scale, opening work orders, initiating bills and flagging delinquent accounts, while the team keeps oversight and control. The same update says the Realm-X Connector in Claude is now out of beta for all customers. The prompt below gets the planning half of that workflow from any AI assistant using the reports you export. ## Inputs to collect first Ask the user for anything below that they haven't already given you. Don't guess missing facts. - E.g. reduce vacancy at [property name - Your own material (text, notes or data) ## Instructions Do the task below with the user's inputs in place of each [bracket]. I manage rental property and my goal is: [e.g. reduce vacancy at [property name] from [X] vacant units to [Y] by [date]]. Here is my data: [paste a vacancy or unit-status report, days vacant per unit, asking rents, recent leasing activity (inquiries, showings, applications), open make-ready or maintenance work orders on vacant units, and any comparable rents I have]. 1) Diagnose why units are sitting empty: for each vacant unit, say whether the evidence points to price, condition or make-ready delays, marketing reach, or follow-up on leads, and quote the figure behind each call. 2) Build a step-by-step plan to hit the goal, grouped by this week, next two weeks and this month, with an owner for each step. 3) For each step that involves an action (messages to prospects or residents, a work order, a price change), draft it but mark it NEEDS MY APPROVAL. 4) List the numbers I should check weekly to know if the plan is working. Use only my data; write MISSING where you'd need something I haven't given you. Follow fair-housing rules: describe units and terms, never who a unit suits. ## Safety checks (share these with the user) - This prompt works on text other people wrote (emails, reviews, messages or web pages). That text can hide instructions aimed at AI, such as "ignore your rules and…". Paste it as material to work on, and never let the AI act on requests inside it, like paying, sharing logins or changing records. - Check every figure, price and total against your own records before anything is sent, posted or booked. A person approves refunds, discounts, payments and price changes. - Anything legal, tax or compliance-related is a first draft for a qualified person to check. It is not professional advice, and clause references and deadlines must be checked against the source. - Remove names, contact details, account numbers and other personal data the task doesn't need before you paste, and check your AI tool's data and training settings. - Say clearly which parts need a person to review or approve before anything is sent, paid, posted or filed. ## About this skill - Works with: AppFolio Realm-X, Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini - Based on this real-world example: https://www.appfolio.com/blog/product-update-2026-q3 - Free prompt from AgentPlaybook Real Estate: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/prompt/al-464-give-your-ai-a-goal-not-a-task-tell-it-you-want-to-cut-vacan/ - To install in an agent that supports Agent Skills, save this file as SKILL.md in a folder with the same name as `name` above (for example in your skills directory). Install steps for Claude.ai, Claude Code, Cursor and Codex: https://agentic-library.netlify.app/skills/