A listing approach engineered around two questions: what produces the strongest sale price for a Hilltop home, and what fee structure leaves the most of that price with the seller. The answers shape how we work.
Recognized Expertise
The Math No One Talks About
Sellers usually focus on the things that get the most airtime in listing meetings: list price, marketing scope, timeline. Those matter, but they're table stakes among any reasonable luxury team. The lever that quietly moves tens of thousands at closing — and that almost no one negotiates — is sitting in plain sight on the first page of the listing agreement: the commission structure.
The default luxury listing rate in the Denver metro is six percent combined, and at the upper end it's not unusual to see higher. The Principal Team's structure is meaningfully below that, and on a Hilltop home in the $2M-$5M range that math compounds quickly. The difference is real money, and it lands directly in the seller's net column.
The expected trade-off — that a lower commission necessarily means thinner service — is the one we've spent two decades disproving. The structure of this section, and the rest of the page, is the evidence.
Illustrative figures. Your specific commission structure and net proceeds are determined during a private listing consultation and depend on your home's value, marketing scope, and engagement terms.
More Service. Not Less.
Lower commission and lower service usually travel together. The four pillars below are how we keep them apart — the operating disciplines that produce the same caliber of marketing, attention, and outcome a seller would expect from a six-percent listing.
Every Hilltop listing is produced like a feature in an architectural magazine, because at this price point the buyers shopping the home are visually literate, time-constrained, and unforgiving about thin presentation. Production happens before the listing goes live, not in patches afterward.
Before the public MLS launch, the home is introduced to qualified buyers and luxury teams across central Denver. A meaningful share of our Hilltop listings see real interest — and sometimes complete offers — from this pre-MLS window, before Zillow® ever shows the property to anyone.
Every offer, counter, and contingency is written and worked by David or Tom directly, from the first call through the final signature at closing. No transaction-coordinator handoff, no junior agent intercepting buyer-side communication. The lead negotiator on day one is the lead negotiator at the closing table.
From signed contract to closing day, every detail runs through the team. Inspections, lender liaison, title coordination, and — for the historic Hilltop homes that need it — landmark or zoning paperwork. Handled, coordinated, and tracked.
A Closer Look
The same caliber of marketing. The same quality of buyer pool. The same eventual closing date. A meaningfully different number where it counts — on the seller's side of the closing statement.
From Consultation To Closing
A deliberate, six-stage process built for sellers who value precision, discretion, and a defended bottom line.
An in-home conversation about your goals, your timeline, and what your Hilltop property is genuinely worth in the current market. No high-pressure tactics, no inflated CMAs to win the listing. Just a candid number, with the data to support it.
Pricing position, marketing scope, and timeline-to-launch worked out collaboratively rather than handed down. Includes the staging walkthrough, the short list of pre-listing improvements that genuinely pay back (and a frank list of the ones that don't), and a realistic forecast of how long contract is likely to take in the current Hilltop market.
Architectural photography, aerial drone work, cinematic video, 3D tour, the Zillow® Showcase Listing build, the custom property website, and the printed property book — all produced before the home goes live. The listing launches finished, not iteratively patched after it's already lost the first-week momentum.
For one to three weeks ahead of the public listing, the home is introduced to the team's private buyer pool and to luxury agents working central Denver. Real interest surfaces in this window with regularity; complete offers occasionally arrive before the public MLS launch ever happens.
Each offer is fielded, modeled, and countered by David or Tom personally. The objective is straightforward and the same on every transaction: the highest defensible net to the seller, paired with contract terms that minimize the contract-to-closing surprises that quietly cost luxury sellers tens of thousands a year.
Inspection, financing, title, and any landmark or zoning paperwork on historic Hilltop homes, coordinated by the team and tracked to completion. You sign the documents. We handle everything that gets you to that table.
Common Questions
There isn't one, and that's the part most sellers find hard to believe. Our commission structure isn't lower because we're cutting corners; it's lower because we've intentionally built a small, high-touch practice. We take fewer luxury listings on purpose, which is exactly what allows us to deliver more attention per client at a more competitive rate.
Most luxury listings include the same core deliverables: photography, MLS presence, syndication. The difference is in the editorial quality of the production, the use of pre-MLS distribution to a private buyer network, and the depth of the negotiation behind every offer. We invest in making your home read like a feature in a magazine, then we market it to the people most likely to actually buy it.
Yes, and often, more of them. Your home goes on the same MLS, syndicates to the same major luxury portals, and reaches the same agent networks. On top of that, our private buyer network and pre-MLS distribution introduce your home to qualified buyers who would otherwise never see it. Big-brand affiliation is valuable; a strong local network is more valuable.
Typically 2–4 weeks from listing agreement to live MLS launch. Most of that time goes into the marketing production (photography, video, 3D tour, property website, print book) and pre-MLS distribution to our network. From live launch, well-priced Hilltop homes generally transact within 30–90 days, depending on price point, finish level, and current inventory.
We have a candid conversation about why and what to adjust, with the data to back it up. That might mean a strategic price adjustment, a refresh of the marketing materials, or a change in showing strategy. The goal is never to sit on a stale listing; the goal is to get you to closing at the highest defensible price.
Request a private valuation through the form below, or call David or Tom directly at 720-408-7409. We'll schedule an in-home conversation, walk the property, and provide a comparable analysis with a candid valuation range, typically within 48 hours of the meeting. There's no obligation, and the valuation is yours to keep regardless of whether you choose to list with us.
Request A Private Valuation
A candid valuation range with the comparable data behind it, delivered after an in-home conversation, on your timeline, with no obligation. Your information stays with David and Tom, and the valuation is yours to keep regardless of whether you choose to list.
Prefer to talk first? 720-408-7409 · [email protected]
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Your valuation request has been received. David or Tom will be in touch within one business day to schedule a private walkthrough at your convenience.
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Book A Listing Consultation With DavidNeed to reach us sooner? Call or text 720-408-7409 or email [email protected].