Amy Jurek of RE/MAX Advantage Plus outlines five listing strategies focused on pricing, inspections, staging, and professional marketing.
-- Amy Jurek, a REALTOR® with RE/MAX Advantage Plus in Savage, Minnesota, is highlighting a five-pillar home listing strategy as statewide housing inventory reaches its highest level in seven years. Her approach focuses on competitive pricing, pre-listing inspections, identifying each property's strongest feature, physical staging, and professional photography and video.
Minnesota's Housing Market Makes Listing Preparation Important
According to Minnesota REALTORS®, statewide housing inventory increased more than 10 percent year over year in August 2026, with more than 20,000 homes for sale. New listings across the Twin Cities metropolitan area increased 8.2 percent. Metro sellers received an average of 98.2 percent of their asking price, while homes took approximately 45 days to sell.
Local figures provide additional context. Redfin's Savage housing market data reported a median of 18 days on market, 135 homes sold, a 99.6 percent sale-to-list ratio, and 40.2 percent of homes selling above asking price in June 2026. The median sale price was $429,766.
These figures highlight the value of evaluating broader market conditions alongside properties competing directly for buyers. Jurek's five-pillar strategy brings pricing, preparation, and marketing together to help sellers make informed decisions and present their homes clearly.
Pillar One: Price the Property Based on Current Competition
Jurek's first pillar focuses on establishing an asking price using recent comparable sales, active listings, and buyer search behavior. Although past sales provide a useful reference, homes currently available for showings also influence how buyers evaluate a new listing.
Pricing affects online visibility because buyers often filter listings by price range. A property priced outside common search ranges may miss potential buyers who would otherwise consider it.
“The first weeks on the market are when you have the strongest opportunity to capture buyer attention,” Jurek said. “I would rather price a home using real sales, current competition and the way buyers are actually searching than start with a wish number and spend the next two months chasing the market with reductions.”
Her approach emphasizes making an informed pricing decision before launch while remaining responsive to market conditions and showing feedback.
Pillar Two: Evaluate the Property Before Listing
The second pillar involves understanding a home's condition before it enters the market. Jurek encourages many sellers, particularly owners of older properties, to consider a professional pre-listing inspection.
An inspection can identify potential concerns while sellers still have time to consider repairs, obtain contractor estimates, account for issues in their pricing strategy, or disclose relevant information to prospective buyers.
“I would much rather find the furnace issue or the roof concern before we list than have a buyer's inspector find it three weeks into a contract,” Jurek said. “When a seller knows the condition of the home going in, we can price for it, fix it or disclose it on our terms.”
A pre-listing inspection does not replace a buyer's inspection or remove the possibility of additional findings. It can, however, help sellers prepare for questions and make decisions before negotiations begin. Sellers should also understand their applicable disclosure obligations.
Pillar Three: Identify the Home's Strongest Feature
The third pillar centers on identifying what makes a property distinctive and using that feature to guide its marketing. Examples include a lakeshore location, acreage, a renovated kitchen, a walkout lower level, a distinctive view, a spacious backyard, or a layout suited to particular buyer needs.
Jurek uses the property's defining feature to inform the lead photograph, listing description, video opening, and preparation priorities. The aim is to communicate what distinguishes the home without overstating its features.
This focus can also help sellers prioritize preparation expenses. A kitchen may benefit from decluttering and improved lighting, while a property distinguished by outdoor space may warrant greater attention to landscaping.
Her seller service includes coordinating inspections, repairs, contractors, staging, and move-out logistics. The goal is to focus preparation on the property's presentation rather than assume every home requires extensive renovation.
Pillar Four: Stage the Actual Property
The fourth pillar emphasizes physical staging, using real furniture, lighting, and accessories to help buyers understand the scale and function of rooms.
Jurek cautions against relying on AI-generated furniture in listing photographs as a substitute for preparing the actual home. When digitally altered images create expectations that do not match the property during a showing, buyers may be disappointed. Physical staging can help align the photographed presentation with the in-person experience.
The National Association of REALTORS® 2025 Profile of Home Staging reported that 83 percent of buyers' agents said staging made it easier for buyers to visualize a property as their future home. Nearly half of sellers' agents reported that staging reduced the time a property spent on the market.
Jurek connects staging decisions to the home's distinguishing features so the presentation reflects what the marketing highlights.
Pillar Five: Use Professional Photography and Video
The fifth pillar involves professional photography, video, and aerial imagery when appropriate. These materials can communicate a property's features, layout, and surroundings to buyers evaluating listings online.
Jurek maintains a public portfolio of listing videos featuring homes in communities including Edina, Lakeville, Prior Lake, Farmington, Shakopee, Bloomington, and St. Louis Park. Her approach emphasizes introducing the property's strongest feature early in the presentation.
Aerial imagery can provide context for larger lots, acreage, lake access, and neighborhood surroundings. Video can help buyers understand how rooms connect, while short-form vertical videos can present listings to audiences using mobile devices. These tools may be particularly relevant to relocation buyers initially evaluating homes from another city or state.
Visual marketing remains one part of the overall process. Pricing, property condition, preparation, showing access, buyer feedback, and negotiation also influence a sale.
Coordinating the Process From Preparation Through Closing
Jurek's five pillars connect pricing, inspections, preparation, staging, and visual marketing into a coordinated listing process. She also provides residential real estate and corporate relocation services throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area, including Savage, Prior Lake, Lakeville, Shakopee, Burnsville, Bloomington, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Plymouth, Maple Grove, St. Louis Park, and Minneapolis.
Her approach combines property preparation and marketing with negotiation and hands-on coordination from pre-listing work through closing.
About Amy Jurek
Amy Jurek is a REALTOR® with RE/MAX Advantage Plus in Savage, Minnesota, representing buyers, sellers, and relocation clients throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan area. She has more than 20 years of experience and has represented more than 500 buyers and sellers.
Her professional recognition includes the RE/MAX Hall of Fame, the RE/MAX Lifetime Achievement Award, and RE/MAX Platinum Club membership since 2013. She has been named a Super Real Estate Agent by Mpls.St.Paul Magazine every year since 2009. Her designations include Accredited Buyer's Representative, Certified Residential Specialist, and Seniors Real Estate Specialist. She has appeared on HGTV's House Hunters and My House Is Worth What?, as well as local television segments on KARE 11 and FOX 9.
More information is available through her official website, about page, blog, and press page. Contact Amy by email at [email protected] or phone at (612) 382-7042. Follow her on Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube, or visit her Google Business Profile.
All real estate commissions are negotiable and established by agreement between the client and the brokerage.
Contact Info:
Name: Amy Jurek
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Organization: RE/MAX Advantage Plus
Website: https://mnrealestatedirect.com/
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