How your house gets sold.
This is the plan I run for every listing: a price built on market evidence instead of flattery, preparation that removes objections before they get expensive, media buyers actually stop for, and a written report every week so you always know where things stand.
It’s all on this page, in writing, because claims you can check beat claims you have to take on faith.
Mark Gores · RE/MAX Advantage Plus · 612-201-5447
The first two weeks decide your price.
I pulled the single family resales that closed in seven south metro cities over two years, 4,961 of them with a days-on-market figure, and grouped them by how long each one took to find a buyer. Then I asked one question: how often did the seller get asking price or better?
- 0 to 7 days1,402 sales87%
- 8 to 14 days1,101 sales76%
- 15 to 30 days1,046 sales53%
- 31 to 60 days863 sales40%
- 61 to 90 days288 sales38%
- 91+ days261 sales26%
Homes that sold in their first two weeks got a median 101.0% of asking. Homes that took more than 90 days got 97.8%. On a $500,000 house, that gap is about $16,000. And it’s measured against the final asking price, after any cuts along the way, so the true cost of starting high is larger than this chart can show.
To be fair about what this is: nobody can prove the slow listings would have done better priced right on day one. But I’ve watched this market for 22 years, and this pattern is the most expensive lesson sellers learn. My job is to make sure you learn it from other people’s listings instead of yours.
Single family resales in Prior Lake, Savage, Shakopee, Lakeville, Burnsville, Apple Valley and Eagan, new construction excluded; sale-to-list measured against the final list price at the time of sale. Based on information from the Regional Multiple Listing Service of Minnesota, Inc. for the period July 8, 2024 through July 8, 2026. Data believed to be accurate but should be independently verified. For the market right now, see the Prior Lake numbers, updated twice a day.
So here’s how I set your number
Comps matched the way an appraiser matches them: size, age, basement finish, street. Time adjustments for a moving market, and a street premium where the data shows one. You’ll get three numbers in writing before you commit to anything:
- Safe
- The certainty end. Prices ahead of the comps to compress your timeline.
- Recommended
- Where the comps, the street, and your home’s condition actually point.
- Stretch
- Tests the ceiling. Takes patience, great presentation, and a plan for what we do if the market shrugs.
The call is yours, and I’ll list at your number. What I won’t do is inflate mine to win your signature. If my number comes in lower than another agent’s, ask us both for our comps in writing. Mine will already be in your hands.
A note on round numbers. Old pricing wisdom says end in 9: list at $564,900 instead of $565,000. The data doesn’t back that up anymore. Round numbers signal confidence and show up in more searches, because buyers filter in $25K and $50K chunks. I’d rather the extra hundred bucks end up in your pocket than in a superstition.
Cheap fixes now beat expensive credits later.
Buyers don’t price problems the way you would. A $300 repair left undone reads as a $3,000 doubt in an offer, and three of them read as “what else is wrong?” So before photos, we walk the house together and deal with it:
- A photo-ready punch list from our walkthrough: what to fix, what to leave, what nobody will notice. Ruthlessly practical, not a renovation pitch.
- A professional staging consultation, included. Usually it’s editing, not furniture rental: what to remove, what to move, which rooms carry the listing.
- Pre-inspection guidance if the house needs it, so surprises show up while they’re still cheap and private.
- No artificial deadlines. The house will go live when it’s ready, not when a calendar says so. The launch window matters too much to waste it on an unready house.
What I’ll actually do to market your house.
The MLS feeds Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin and hundreds of other sites automatically, for every listing. What separates listings is the finish work: what a buyer sees after the click, and how the people in the transaction get treated. That’s where I spend my time.
- Photography
- Professional interior and exterior photography plus aerial shots, scheduled when the house and the light are ready. Photos are the showing before the showing; they’ll be treated that way.
- A caption on every photo
- I write a caption for each photo, because a caption answers the question a photo raises: “New LVP flooring, 2024.” “Heated, insulated 3-car garage.”
- Copy written by me
- The listing description is written by a person who’s walked your house. It sells the two or three things that make your house your house.
- Paid reach
- Targeted online advertising, a social campaign, plus print and radio. Not because every channel wins every time, but because the buyer you need only has to be found once.
- A report of its own
- Before you’ve signed anything, your house will get a detailed report, online at a private link: your comps, your numbers, your street’s history, written by me. Not a template with your address pasted in.
- Easy to show, easy to offer
- Buyers’ agents talk to each other. I answer their questions fast, keep showings simple, and respond to every offer promptly. All of it shows up in how smoothly your sale runs.
Quiet prep, then one loud week.
Your leverage peaks in the first 14 days and never comes back. Every house is different, but the sequence isn’t:
- Two weeks outWalkthrough, punch list, staging consult. Photography scheduled. Pricing proposal finalized in writing.
- One week outPhotos shot and captioned. Copy written. The MLS entry will be built completely before it goes anywhere.
- Day oneLive on the MLS and everywhere it feeds, ads on, showings open. Nothing will dribble out early and stale.
- Weeks one and twoThe decisive window. Showings and feedback tracked daily, and you’ll get the first written report before the first weekend is over.
You shouldn’t have to ask what’s happening.
Every week you’ll get a written report: showings, buyer feedback, online traffic, my read of it, and a specific recommendation. It will show up whether the news is good or not. Here’s the shape of one:
- Showings
- 9 this week · 17 total
- Online
- 4,210 views · 212 saves
- Feedback themes
- “kitchen” positive ×4 · “backyard smaller than expected” ×2
- My read
- Traffic strong, weekend two conversion soft
- Recommendation
- Hold price through weekend three. Revisit Tuesday if no offer.
If something needs to change, price, staging, photos, you’ll hear it from me first and early, with the data that says so. What I won’t do is let a listing sit quietly while everybody avoids the conversation.
I read the other side before we answer them.
Every offer will get a written breakdown before we respond: price, financing strength, contingencies, timing, appraisal risk, and where I’d push back. Terms lose sellers more money than price does, so we look at all of it, on paper, before anyone reacts.
When a buyer pushes, I show you exactly what their agent is looking at, and what the data says we can hold.
Asked and answered, in writing.
What if I think my house is worth more than your number?
Then we talk about it with the comps on the table. Sometimes a seller knows something the data doesn’t: an update I underweighted, a lot premium, a view. Sometimes it’s just hope, and I’ll say so kindly. You’ll get Safe, Recommended and Stretch in writing either way, and it’s your call. If you want to try the higher number, we agree up front on what the market needs to show us, and by when, so any adjustment is a plan we made calmly instead of an argument we have later.
Do I have to pay the buyer’s agent?
Whether you offer anything toward a buyer’s agent is your decision. We’ll talk it through before listing, trade-offs and all. Commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable.
What happens if showings stall?
You’ll know as soon as I do, because the weekly report won’t skip the bad weeks. Stalled showings mean the market is telling us something, usually about price, sometimes about presentation. I’ll bring the data and a specific recommendation, not a shrug.
Do we have to sit through a listing appointment to get real numbers?
No. Send me your address and I’ll run this plan against your house first: comps, a recommended range and an estimated net, in a written report at a private link. Then we’ll talk at your table, on the phone or over email, whichever you prefer. By then the conversation will be short and useful instead of a two-hour pitch.
Mark Gores, RE/MAX Advantage Plus.
Realtor for 22 years, Prior Lake resident since 1986, and I sell across the south metro. I build my own tools: the database behind the numbers on this page also runs priorlake.realestate. I hold a 5.0 rating on Zillow.
You’ll work with me directly, on my cell. I work with the Minnesota Real Estate Team at RE/MAX Advantage Plus, so if I’m ever sick or unreachable, your sale won’t wait.
Fast response, did an excellent job advertising the home, had a showing and sold the property before ever getting a “for sale” sign out front. Everything went very smoothly. The Gores Team answered all our questions quickly, provided sound advice on preparing to sell, handled the details of the sale and closing, etc. We would strongly recommend this team.
Next steps
- 01Send me your addressText, email, or the address box on my home page. Mention anything you think matters: updates, timing, the neighbor’s sale that confused you.
- 02I run this plan against your houseYou’ll get a private, written pricing proposal: comps, my recommended range, an estimated net, and the recent sales on your street and in your neighborhood. No obligation, and I won’t chase you with follow-up calls.
- 03We talk, or we don’tKitchen table, phone or email, your choice. If it’s not a fit, no hard feelings. If it is, photography and prep can start right away.
The weekly report above is an example. Nothing on this page is a guarantee of price, timing or outcome. Markets move, and honest agents say so.