Gateway Realty Group FAQ

Gateway Realty Group is a residential real estate team at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties, based at 950 Caledonia Drive in O'Fallon, Missouri. We help people buy, sell and build homes across the Missouri side of the St. Louis region, with St. Charles County as our home market.

Madison Hayes leads the team, which formed in 2020. We also produce livingstlouismo.com and the Living St. Louis YouTube channel, so many clients know the area, and us, before we ever meet.

No, we are a team that works under a brokerage. Gateway Realty Group is affiliated with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties and works out of its St. Charles office at 950 Caledonia Drive in O'Fallon. Your contracts, escrow and compliance run through that brokerage, while your day-to-day work is with our team. That is why you will see both names on our listings and paperwork.

Madison Hayes founded and leads the team. She became a licensed Missouri real estate agent in 2018 and formally formed Gateway Realty Group in 2020, and her Missouri license number is 2018010039.

Madison still works directly with clients. She sets the standard the rest of the team follows: research before every listing appointment, a plan built around your goals, and steady communication through closing.

The team was formally founded in 2020. Madison Hayes has been licensed since 2018, and the team began informally shortly after she started.

Our track record reaches back to December 2016 because it includes sales our agents closed before they joined the team. If you see a different year on an older directory listing, 2020 is the founding year we stand behind.

Our office is at 950 Caledonia Drive, O'Fallon, MO 63368, inside the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties St. Charles office. The fastest way to reach us is to call or text (636) 626-0753, the team's main line, or email GatewayRealtyGroupSTL@gmail.com. You can also send the form on any page of livingstlouismo.com.

Each agent's direct number is on their own profile page:

• Madison Hayes
• Kellie Lasater
• Tracy Sanders
• Lana Prinster
• Candy Smothers

Most meetings happen at your home, at a property or on a video call, so call ahead if you would like to meet at the office. There is no suite number, even though some old directory listings show one.

No, several unrelated real estate businesses in other states use the name Gateway Realty or Gateway Realty Group. We are the Gateway Realty Group in O'Fallon, Missouri, at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties, led by Madison Hayes. If a listing, review or profile shows a different address, state or brokerage, it is not us.

Every agent on our team is a full-service agent who works with buyers, sellers and new construction. Many teams split that work, with a team lead who only takes listings, showing agents who only work with buyers, and sometimes agents who handle only new construction. We do not, so the agent you work with has experience with every kind of client and both sides of a sale.

Behind the agents are two full-time marketers, a transaction coordinator, and a team of freelancers and assistants. We also publish our numbers: every transaction our agents have closed is on our track record page, with the method behind it. And with more than 260 Living St. Louis videos and dozens of neighborhood guides, we can walk you through an area in detail before you ever tour it.

We serve the Missouri side of the Greater St. Louis region: St. Louis City and St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson, Lincoln, Warren and Franklin counties. Our home market is St. Charles County, including O'Fallon, St. Charles, St. Peters, Lake St. Louis, Wentzville, Cottleville and Dardenne Prairie.

As of September 26, 2026, our agents had closed 667 transactions in 51 cities, and most of them were in three places:

• St. Charles County: 426 transactions
• St. Louis County: 130 transactions
• St. Louis City: 36 transactions

The busiest cities were Wentzville, St. Louis, O'Fallon, Lake St. Louis and St. Charles. A transaction is one side of a sale, so a home where we represented both the buyer and the seller counts twice, which is how the industry reports it.

We only work in Missouri, so we cannot represent you in Illinois, including the Metro East, or in another state. Occasionally we close a sale elsewhere in Missouri, but if you are moving within Columbia, Kansas City or the Lake of the Ozarks, a local agent there will serve you better.

If you need an agent outside our area, we will refer you to one through the networks our team has built. If you are moving to St. Louis and selling a home somewhere else, we can connect you with an agent there and time your St. Louis purchase around that sale.

Alongside livingstlouismo.com, which holds our neighborhood guides and home search, we run free guides to specific places and situations:

• cottlevilletrails.com for Cottleville Trails
• streetsofcaledonia.com for The Streets of Caledonia in O'Fallon
• thereservewildwoodmo.com for The Reserve at Wildwood
• lakestlouiswaterfronthomes.com for Lake St. Louis waterfront homes
• stlrelo.com, a relocation guide
• newconstructionplaybook.com, a guide for people building a home

You do not have to be our client to use any of them.

Living St. Louis is our team's YouTube channel about living in, moving to, and buying or selling in the St. Louis area. Since 2020 it has covered suburb and neighborhood guides, new construction communities, home tours, local developments and market updates, downsides included.

As of October 26, 2026, the channel had 269 public videos, more than 20,000 subscribers and more than 2.5 million lifetime views, and the channel and our websites had led to more than $60 million in closed home sales for Gateway Realty Group since 2021. It is free to watch at youtube.com/@LivingStLouis, and you never have to work with us to use it.

No, our Living St. Louis is an independent YouTube channel produced by Gateway Realty Group. Nine PBS has a television program with the same name, and the two are not connected. You can find our channel at youtube.com/@LivingStLouis.

As of September 26, 2026, our agents have closed 667 transactions on 632 properties since December 2016, which we describe publicly as 660 plus, with a documented sales volume of $294.8 million. A transaction is one side of a sale, so when we represent both the buyer and the seller, it counts as two, each at full price, the standard way the industry reports it.

The true volume is above $300 million, because many builder-direct sales our agents closed never appeared in the MLS and are still being documented. In 2025 alone we closed 101 transactions worth $56.4 million. Every transaction, and the method behind the numbers, is on our track record page.

Across our last 111 listings, closed from August 2023 to August 2026, the median time to go under contract was 5 days, 63% sold at or above their original asking price, and the median sale price was 100% of the original list price. Closing then typically takes another 30 to 45 days when the buyer is financing.

Timing varies by price point, season and how the home is priced at launch, which is why we will not inflate a number to win your listing.

Gateway Realty Group has more than 170 five-star reviews across Google, Yelp, Facebook and Realtor.com. In September 2026 we had 145 Google reviews with a 5.0 average and had responded to every one.

The themes that come up most are buying and selling handled together, a stressful process made calm, quick sales and constant communication. Our reviews page publishes every review in full, not a curated selection.

Madison Hayes, Kellie Lasater and Tracy Sanders are certified through Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Luxury Collection, and the same three are certified in residential relocation. Our recognition includes:

• A place in the top 1% of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network, a rolling year-to-date ranking
• Madison Hayes on PropertySpark's list of the Top 50 Missouri Real Estate Agents on Social Media, at No. 16 in 2021 and No. 5 in 2022
• Madison Hayes on Coldwell Banker's 30 Under 30 list in 2020
• A five-star award for customer satisfaction, which Kellie Lasater has received more than five years running

In August 2024, Kellie Lasater represented the team on CNBC's Power Lunch, in a Powerhouse Road Trip segment on the state of St. Louis real estate. In April 2024, a FOX 2 article about Wildwood, the largest city in St. Louis County by land area, featured our Living St. Louis video on the city.

Gateway Realty Group has five practicing agents:

• Madison Hayes leads the team and has been licensed since 2018.
• Kellie Lasater started in new construction with a local builder in 2003 and moved to residential sales in 2012.
• Tracy Sanders is certified in luxury and relocation sales, as are Madison and Kellie.
• Lana Prinster came to real estate from managing large apartment communities.
• Candy Smothers spent years at a local builder, helping more than 350 families build.

Behind the agents, Kate Wilhelms runs marketing and operations, Maggie Stephens coordinates transactions, and Jacob Peistrup runs content and media. Mindy Bushman is a referral partner of the team, and together the team has more than 50 years of combined real estate experience.

Yes, every practicing agent on our team works real estate full time, and we only hire full-time agents. We have turned down agents who asked to join because they were not the right fit, and anyone who is not fully committed to full-time work is not a fit for us.

Marketing, operations and transaction coordination are full-time roles held by separate people too. A sale or purchase does not wait for a convenient evening.

You get both: one lead agent who knows your situation and is your main point of contact, and a team behind that agent. If your agent cannot make a showing, inspection or final walkthrough because of a scheduling conflict, an illness or something else in life, another agent on our team steps in. That way you are fully supported, and you can see homes when you want to.

Once you are under contract, our transaction coordinator, Maggie Stephens, owns the file to closing, tracking deadlines and keeping the lender and title company in step. We keep you updated by text, phone or email, whichever you prefer, and before you have to ask.

Kate Wilhelms, our Director of Marketing and Operations, reviews every inquiry and connects you with the agent on our team best suited to help you. Kate is not a licensed agent, so she makes the introduction rather than representing you herself. If you already know which agent you want to work with, their direct number is on their own profile page.

We represent home sellers, home buyers, new construction buyers and people relocating to the St. Louis area, and we help investors buy and sell residential property. We are a full-service team, so every listing gets professional marketing, pricing strategy, negotiation and coordination through closing.

We do not offer discount, flat-fee or listing-only packages. We also do not help tenants find rentals, manage rental property, buy houses for cash or make mortgage loans.

Our clients include first-time buyers, many of them renting when they first reach out, people moving up or downsizing, buyers relocating from other states, new construction buyers, VA buyers, investors, and luxury buyers and sellers. Our median transaction price is around $345,000, and we have also closed sales from $1 million to more than $3 million.

Our record includes single-family homes, condos, townhomes and villas, small multi-family buildings, and land, lots and farms. A first-time buyer gets the same attention from us as a million-dollar listing.

No, we specialize in real estate sales and do not handle rentals. Our focus is helping people buy and sell homes in St. Louis and St. Charles. If you are looking for a rental, these steps tend to work:

• Start with Zillow, Apartments.com and HotPads, plus local rental groups on Facebook.
• Contact the owner, property manager or listing agent directly about showings, availability and deposits.
• Be ready to move quickly, because rentals here tend to go fast.
• If you are relocating, a short-term Airbnb can give you time to search in person.

When you decide to buy, we would love to help.

No, we are listing agents, and we do not buy houses ourselves or take a referral fee for sending you to anyone who does. If you have a cash offer, we will give you a real market number so you can compare it against what you would net on the open market. Sometimes the cash offer is the right call, and we will say so.

No, we do not set rates or approve loans, and Gateway Realty Group receives no share of, or payment from, anyone's mortgage. Our preferred mortgage partner is American Mortgage Corporation. We work very closely with Stuart Rosenblum and his team there, and many of our clients choose them. American Mortgage Corporation is a separate company, so loan programs, rates and approval are always your lender's decision.

Stuart Rosenblum, President of American Mortgage Corporation in St. Louis, appears in our Living St. Louis mortgage videos and has more than 30 years in the mortgage business. You can reach him at (314) 324-4440 or Stuart@amcmort.com. His NMLS number is 267567, and American Mortgage Corporation's is 226715.

You are free to use any lender, and many of our clients compare written loan estimates side by side. Stuart's Bagel Loan™ can remove lender and title fees on qualifying loans.

No, Gateway Realty Group is an independent buyer's agent. We are not the builder, the developer or the official sales office for any of the communities we cover, and we represent buyers, not builders. Our community sites exist to give buyers straight answers and a representative of their own.

We do not rank neighborhoods by safety or say an area suits a certain kind of household, because fair housing rules exist so that every buyer chooses freely. What we do is give you the facts to decide: police department crime maps, commute times, home prices and what each area is actually like day to day.

For schools, start with Niche, GreatSchools and the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Confirm the assignment for a specific address with the district, because boundaries can change from one street to the next.

We respond within one business day, usually sooner, and a real person on our team reads every message. Calls and texts to (636) 626-0753 are typically answered on weekends too, by Madison Hayes.

Consultations, showings and calls happen on evenings and weekends as well, because real estate rarely keeps a nine-to-five schedule. If something is urgent, such as an offer deadline or a showing you want this weekend, call or text that number.

Your details go straight to our team, and you always hear from Kate Wilhelms first, within one business day. She tells you which agent will be reaching out, and if anything needs clarifying, she asks a few follow-up questions so that agent is ready for your first conversation.

That conversation is about your goals, timeline and questions. Nothing is scheduled or signed until you decide you want to move forward.

No, asking a question, requesting a home valuation or talking through a move is free and commits you to nothing. A valuation from us is based on your actual home and recent sales nearby, not an automated estimate.

Talking early often helps. Sellers who call six to twelve months ahead have more room to plan repairs and timing, and buyers can line up a lender and narrow their areas first.

If you have signed an agreement with another agent, it has to be canceled in writing before we can take you on as a client. We have taken on clients who were previously working with other buyer's agents and listing agents, and all we ask is that the earlier contract is terminated in writing first.

If you would rather work with several agents at once, we are not the right team for you. Either way, you are welcome to keep watching our videos and reading our guides.

When two different agents represent the buyer and the seller, even two agents from our team, it is a normal transaction. Dual agency is when one agent represents both sides, for example when an agent has a buyer for her own listing, and it requires the signed consent of both the buyer and the seller. If you are not comfortable with that, you can work with another agent on our team instead.

Either way, transaction coordination is the same: Maggie Stephens, our transaction coordinator, keeps a dedicated file for each client and address. Even with dual agency, we still owe you duties such as trust, confidentiality and care.

Your costs are the listing commission, which we agree on in writing before your home goes on the market, and a $395 brokerage fee per transaction, both paid at closing from the sale proceeds. There is nothing to pay up front, and your consultation, valuation and listing plan are free. If your home does not sell, no commission is owed.

We do not publish a fixed rate, because it depends on the property, the price point and the marketing your sale needs. Before you commit, we show you the real numbers, including your likely net after commission and closing costs.

It pays for a marketing plan built for your home rather than a cookie-cutter package, along with pricing analysis, negotiation on every offer, and coordination through inspection, appraisal and closing. Every listing gets:

• Professional 4K photography
• Printed flyers
• A feature on our social media
• An email campaign to more than 1,000 agents in the area

Drone footage and staging are available for every listing. Depending on the home and your goals, we may also add:

• Social media videos and a Living St. Louis YouTube video
• Floor plans
• Just listed and just sold postcards
• A public open house, a broker open house or a neighbors-only open house, depending on what you want and the attention the listing needs
• A press feature

If you would rather your home stay off the channel, it will. Our listing marketing page shows examples.

Since August 2024, you sign a written buyer agreement before touring, and it states exactly how we are paid. It can be as narrow as a single property if you are not ready to commit further. There is also a $395 brokerage fee per transaction, paid at closing, and no other fee from us.

In the St. Louis area, sellers have historically paid the buyer's agent and most still do, now negotiated in each contract rather than advertised in the MLS, and in new construction the builder almost always pays it. If a seller offers less than your agreement, we tell you before you make an offer and work to negotiate it into the contract, so you never learn about a cost at the closing table.

Sometimes we can. Some of our listings sell to buyers already in our network before they ever reach the public market, but it depends on your home, the price point and who is looking at the time, so nobody can promise it in advance.

We can market your home as an office exclusive, as coming soon or as an active listing, depending on your goals. If you want a private sale for privacy or security, tell us before we shoot anything and we will build the plan around that.

Yes, and it is one of the most common situations we handle. Most of our seller reviews mention a sale and a purchase done together, and many of those sellers were building a new home at the time.

We sequence the two so you are not carrying two mortgages or moving twice, using a sale contingency, bridge financing, a later closing date or a short rent-back after closing. Which fits depends on your finances, the build schedule if you are building, and what the other parties will agree to.

Yes, these come up often, and each starts in a different place:

• Inherited home: we start with whether probate has cleared, then show you what the house would bring as-is versus prepared.
• Divorce: we put the pricing reasoning in writing and copy both sides on everything.
• Tenant in place: we weigh selling to an investor against waiting out the lease and listing it vacant.
• Needs work, or you have already moved away: we can price it as-is or offer a credit, and handle contractors, cleanout and showings locally.
• Behind on payments: we tell you quickly what the house would sell for, while legal and financial advice stays with your attorney or advisor.

Yes, our home search shows MLS listings across the St. Louis region, updated from the MLS several times a day. The listing data comes from MARIS, the local MLS, and belongs to the listing brokers.

Homes that are not on the public market will not appear there. Through our network and other agents', we often hear about coming-soon and quiet sales first, so tell us exactly what you want and we will keep watch.

You are not required to have one, but it is strongly in your interest, and in almost every case it costs you nothing because the builder pays the buyer's agent. The salesperson in the model home works for the builder.

We work for you: comparing builders, communities and lots, reviewing the purchase agreement, negotiating incentives and options, and attending milestones like the pre-drywall walkthrough and final orientation. Arrangements vary by builder, so we confirm the exact terms before you commit. Our new construction guide walks through the whole process.

Before your first visit to the builder's sales office. Most builders require your agent to be registered on that first visit, and if you walk in alone, you may lose the option of having your own representation for that home. Call us before you tour a model, and we will register you and come along.

We work with buyers across the St. Louis area's builders, large and small. Builders we have worked with include:

• McKelvey Homes
• Lombardo Homes
• Fischer Homes
• Fischer & Frichtel
• Consort Homes
• T.R. Hughes Homes
• Zykan & Sons Homes
• Prestige Custom Homes
• Houston Homes

Two of our agents worked for local builders before joining the team. We do not represent any builder and do not publish a ranking, because the right one depends on price per square foot, what is standard, lot options, schedule and warranty. We compare the builders you are considering against what matters most to you.

Yes, it is one of the things we do most. It usually starts with a video call and a walkthrough of neighborhoods on screen, then a focused tour day built around one trip, then offers written while you are back home. If you cannot visit, we tour homes live on FaceTime or Zoom, though we recommend attending the inspection in person if you can.

Moving from another state on your own does not call for a special agent, and any agent on our team can help you. If your employer is moving you through a relocation company that requires a certified agent, Madison Hayes, Kellie Lasater and Tracy Sanders are relocation certified. Our relocation page and free guide at stlrelo.com are made for exactly this situation.