Evidence of Success: How DRG Sold a Condo at River Station, North Loop

Posted by Joe Grunnet on Monday, August 25th, 2025  8:49pm.

From Price Cuts to a Clean Plan That Sold

The sellers started with an agent who didn’t offer strong guidance on price or prep. After many months of no bites and 1-2 showing a month, they turned to DRG for a reset. A good home at River Station Condos in the North Loop was stuck in a bad plan. My job was to reset the strategy, meet the market where it was, and build real demand fast. 

 

  1. WHAT THE MARKET WAS SAYINGCHANGE THE STORY, NOT THE VALUE
  2. THE TURN: FROM TRICKLE TO TRACTION 
  3. What You Can Copy for Your Condo Sale
  4. A QUICK NOTE ON CONDO SALE TIMING AND HEADLINES
  5. A Better Way to sell your downtown Minneapolis condo
 

What the Market Was Saying

Downtown and the North Loop behave differently than the broader metro. In July 2025, the North Loop median sale price sat around $324,000, down 12.8% year over year, with median days on market around 48. Fewer closings than a year ago told me the buyer pool was thinner and choosier. That’s not doom. It’s a read of supply, demand, and how sharp you need to be on price and presentation. 

Zoom out to the Twin Cities. The latest monthly indicators show months’ supply at 2.7, basically flat year over year. Days on market ticked up to about 40 across the region, with prices up modestly. In short, you can sell, but you need a plan that works with the market, not against it.

Change The Story, Not The Value

We didn’t “test” a number and hope. We designed demand.

1. Price to Win, Not Chase

I listed at $409,900. That framed value and aimed for qualified traffic. A fair, market-matched list price pulls real buyers in week one. If you keep trimming, you train buyers to wait. The metro’s 2.7 months of supply told me we had room to sell without racing to the bottom, if we nailed presentation and distribution. 

2. Fix the First Five Seconds

Kitchens sell condos. We gave clear, light-touch advice: brighten the kitchen, refresh cabinet color, update a few finishes. There’s a reason this works. The U.S. Houzz Kitchen Trends Study shows white remains the top choice for upgraded cabinet color (33%), with white or off-white leading many other kitchen elements. You want buyers to step in and feel “move-in ready” without doing the math on paint, hardware, and lighting. 

If you care about ROI, national Cost vs. Value data backs the approach: a minor midrange kitchen remodel recoups about 96% on average, which is why I start with surfaces and sightlines before anything structural.

3. Stage the Decision Points

Staging isn’t fluff. It’s clarity. 83% of buyers’ agents say staging helps buyers visualize a property as their future home. The most important rooms to stage: living room, primary bedroom, then kitchen. Staging also correlates with quicker sales and a modest bump in perceived value. We focused on layout, scale, and simple, airy styling that feels urban but livable.



4. Win Online Before You Win in Person

Most buyers meet your condo on a phone screen. So we shot new photos, added a floor plan, and published a 3D walkthrough. Zillow’s data is clear: listings with an Interactive Floor Plan see 60% more views and 79% more saves on average. More views and saves begets more showings.

5. Put It in Front of the Right People

Downtown is a niche. Buildings, HOAs, parking, views; your buyer has a checklist and already follows agents who live in this world. We pushed the relaunch to our DRG downtown buyer list and agent partners who have active condo clients. It matters because most buyers use an agent, 86% in the latest national profile, and a large, local network gets your condo in front of qualified people faster.

6. Keep the Feedback Loop Tight

Every showing produced real feedback. Every week the seller got a clean report on what we heard and what we’d adjust. Clear, steady communication beats guesswork, especially after a rough first go-round.

The Turn: From Trickle to Traction

Once we relaunched, showings jumped from a couple per month to several a week. We never cut the price. The traffic was serious, and the questions were the right ones: storage, light, HOA details, parking.

We closed on Aug. 1, 2025 at $390,000, about 63 days from relaunch to sold, right in step with North Loop days on market, while protecting our pricing story. You can’t always control the macro, but you can control how your listing reads to the market.

Here’s how Lindsay put it:

“DRG’s connections and knowledge of the market made the difference. Joe listened to our needs and made it happen. He has the contacts, reach, and marketing know-how.”

What You Can Copy for Your Condo Sale

Meet the Market Where It Is

In the North Loop, the median price slipped year over year and days on market stretched. That doesn’t mean “don’t sell.” It means list where buyers will engage, then let presentation and distribution build urgency.

Make the Kitchen an Easy Yes

You don’t have to swing a sledgehammer. Bright paint, a cabinet refresh, new hardware, a lighting tweak, and a pro clean are often enough to align with buyer expectations. White and off-white reads fresh on camera and in person. The national data backs it.

If you do invest, keep it minor and strategic. Cost vs. Value shows minor kitchen projects deliver some of the best payback at resale. You’re updating the story buyers see, not doing a museum build. 

Stage the Rooms That Sell the Home

Define the living room. Make the primary bedroom restful. Keep the kitchen clean and bright. That’s where buyers decide. Staged listings are easier for people to picture themselves in, and many agents report faster sales and a small lift on offer price.

Win the Scroll with Better Media

Great photos, a floor plan, and a 3D tour make your condo easier to understand and remember, which drives more saves and more showings in week one. Zillow’s numbers on interactive floor plans aren’t subtle, more views and saves mean more chances to get the right buyers through the door.

Leverage a Real Downtown Network

Most buyers lean on an agent. You want your condo pushed to the right inboxes like people actively looking for a downtown condo, and agents with those clients. That’s the edge a niche brokerage gives you.

A Quick Note on Condo Sale Timing and Headlines

You’ve probably seen mixed headlines about cities. My advice: look at your neighborhood data and your building context. The metro’s supply sitting near 2.7 months keeps leverage on the seller side if you price and present well. Couple that with neighborhood-level reads like North Loop’s pricing and days on market, and you can decide whether to list now or prep for a strategic launch in a few weeks. That’s the kind of calendar conversation I have with sellers every day.

Thinking About Selling Your Downtown Minneapolis Condo?

You don’t have to go public on day one. If you want to test demand with less friction, we can float your condo to a pool of qualified downtown buyers and partner agents first. It’s simple, low-pressure, and built for owners who want to time the market to their life, not the other way around. That’s what our Make Me Move approach is designed to do; quiet exposure to real buyers, selective showings, and the flexibility to say “not yet” unless the price and timing are right. When you’re ready, we can go full market with the same clean plan that worked at River Station.

Joe Grunnet
Broker | DRG | Condo Expert
700 Washington Ave N, Ste 101

Joe@DRGMpls.com
612-244-6613