102%
Average list-to-sale price ratio — my listings sell, on average, for more than asking
Sellers · Gutermuth Homes at Cressy & Everett Real Estate
Most agents tell you what you want to hear. I’ll tell you what it takes to sell for the most money.
Even the parts you won’t want to hear. A straight-answers strategy session with Garrett Gutermuth: what your home is really worth, what to fix, what to skip, and the pricing strategy to get you the most.
Free, no obligation — and everything I teach on this page is yours to keep, whoever you hire.
Seller Track Record
The numbers the strategy produces — not the other way around.
~8
Days on market, on average
These are my real numbers from my first year in the business — not a big-volume claim, just what the strategy below actually produces.
Here’s exactly how I get you more money — not just a promise that I will
Six moves, taught in the open. Most agents keep their method vague. Mine works better when you understand it.
Price Bracketing
Buyers search in price brackets — $300–325K, $325–350K. I price your home to land inside the brackets where the most ready buyers are actually looking, instead of a dead zone where nobody sees it. Most agents pick a round number, or price high to win your listing. Bracketing is deliberate. See how this played out on a real South Bend listing below. Watch me walk through this — 2 minutes.
Supply & Demand Audit
Before we set a price, I count exactly how many homes like yours are competing and how many buyers are hunting for them. Your price gets set to the real market — not to a guess, and not to whatever number wins me your signature. Watch me walk through this — 2 minutes.
Time vs. Money
There’s a direct trade-off between how fast you sell and how much you net — and most agents quietly prefer the fast sale, because it’s better for them. I’ll show you the honest math on both sides, and you choose. Not me. Watch me walk through this — 2 minutes.
The Zillow Trick
Buyers see your home online long before they see it in person, and the online numbers shape what they’re willing to offer. I have a specific move to make those numbers work for you instead of against you — I’ll walk you through it at the strategy session.
Active Buyer Analysis
I study every home a buyer will compare yours against — then we position yours to win that comparison on price and condition. You’re not listing into a vacuum; you’re competing, and we compete to win. Watch me walk through this — 2 minutes.
Expireds, Pendings & Actives
I read the market three ways: pendings show what buyers are saying yes to, expireds show what they’re rejecting, and actives are your live competition. Then we prep and price so your home reads as a “yes.” Evidence, not opinion.
Spend on the outside and the small stuff. Don’t gut the kitchen to sell.
Most of what sellers spend before listing never comes back at closing. Here’s the truth about what pays — national cost-recouped figures, sources below.
Worth It
Recoups 100%+ of what you spend- Garage door replacement 268%
- Steel entry door 216%
- Manufactured stone veneer 208%
- Fiber-cement siding 114%
- Minor kitchen remodel (midrange) 113%
Do It If Needed
Solid return — ~70–97% back- Vinyl siding 97%
- Wood deck 95%
- Bath remodel (midrange) 80%
- Vinyl windows 76%
- Asphalt roof 68%
Skip It Before Selling
Less than 55 cents back per dollar- Bath addition (midrange) 53%
- Major kitchen remodel (midrange) 51%
- Bath remodel (midrange-to-upscale) 42%
- Major kitchen remodel (upscale) 36%
- Bath addition (upscale) 36%
- Primary suite addition (midrange) 32%
- Solar 30%
- Primary suite addition (upscale) 18%
The short version: a new garage door or steel front door returns 2x+ your money. A $164K upscale kitchen returns 36 cents on the dollar. Before you spend on any of it, do the nearly-free things first: declutter (91% of agents recommend it), deep clean (88%), and curb appeal (77%). Staging helps, modestly — 29% of agents saw a 1–10% bump in offer dollars, with the living room, primary bedroom, and kitchen mattering most. It’s real, but it’s not magic.
These are national averages. What actually matters is your specific home and your specific buyer — that’s exactly what the strategy session is for.
Prefer to talk it through first? Call or text 574-850-2252.
Sources: 2025 Cost vs. Value Report (Zonda/JLC); NAR/NARI 2025 Remodeling Impact Report; NAR 2025 Profile of Home Staging.
Interview every agent you talk to — including me
You’re hiring someone to handle the largest asset you own. Here’s what to ask, whoever sits at your table.
- 1
How did you arrive at your suggested list price?
Which comps, and what sale price do you actually expect versus the list price? A number without the reasoning is a guess.
Pricing & strategy - 2
What’s your pricing strategy — not just the number?
Where the price sits in buyers’ search brackets matters as much as the price itself.
Pricing & strategy - 3
How do supply and demand in my neighborhood affect my price right now?
If they can’t tell you how many homes you’re competing against this week, the price wasn’t set to your market.
Pricing & strategy - 4
How exactly will you market my home?
“I’ll put it on the MLS” is not a marketing plan. Ask what happens before the photos and after the sign goes up.
Marketing & process - 5
What’s in the listing agreement — and can I walk away if you’re not delivering?
Read the exit terms before you sign anything. My answer to this one is in writing — the No-Handcuff Agreement, below.
Fit & trust - 6
What’s your average list-to-sale ratio and average days on market?
These two numbers tell you whether their pricing actually works. Ask for them straight.
Marketing & process - 7
What do I need to do to get the house ready — and what should I NOT waste money on?
An agent who only tells you what to spend, and never what to skip, isn’t protecting your equity.
Marketing & process - 8
Will I work directly with you, or get handed off?
Know who answers the phone at 8 PM when an offer comes in. My sellers work with me directly, start to finish.
Fit & trust
Ask me every one of these. If an agent can’t answer them straight, that tells you something too.
Stuck at $340K with no showings. Relisted at $325K — sold in two days for $340K, with multiple offers.
One real South Bend listing, exactly as it happened.
The home had been sitting at $340,000 with no showings and nothing but lowball offers around $310,000. The sellers were stuck — the market had already told them the strategy wasn’t working, and waiting longer was only going to cost them more.
We re-strategized and relisted at $325,000 using price bracketing — the first move in the playbook above. Instead of sitting in a dead zone between search brackets, the home landed squarely where the ready buyers were looking. The buyers who’d been scrolling past it suddenly saw it — and competed for it.
Sold In
2 days
after relisting
Offers
Multiple
competing buyers
Final Price
$340K
$15K over the new list price
This is one real, specific listing — not a “typical results” claim. Every home is different. That’s exactly why the strategy comes before the sign goes in the yard.
Want this strategy run on your home?
Prefer to talk it through first? Call or text 574-850-2252.
The No-Handcuff Agreement
If you ever feel I’m not delivering what I promised, we part as friends — no handcuffs, no lock-in.
Most listing agreements lock you in for months, no matter what. Mine doesn’t — because you shouldn’t stay locked in on the strength of a promise I’m not keeping. If I’m not doing the job I said I’d do, you’re free to go. No fees, no fight, no hard feelings.
It’s question 5 on the list above, answered in writing before you ever ask it.
You’ve seen the terms — there’s no risk in hearing the truth.
Get your home value and a straight-answers strategy — before you spend a dollar or sign anything
A no-pressure conversation about what your home is really worth, what to do before listing, and the pricing strategy to get you the most. And if you ever feel I’m not delivering what I promised, we part as friends — no handcuffs, no lock-in.
Rather talk it through first? Call or text 574-850-2252.