Why I Ask This Simple Question to Help Your Home Sell (Not Sit!)
Why I Ask This Simple Question to Help Your Home Sell (Not Sit!)
When I meet with homeowners who are thinking about selling, we usually cover all the standard topics: pricing, staging, timelines, and how showings will work. But there’s one question I always throw in that tends to surprise people - and it opens the door to a much more honest and helpful conversation: “If you had to live here for five more years, what would you update next?”
At first, this might sound like a strange question - especially when you’re planning to leave the house, not stay in it. But it’s actually one of the most important questions I ask, especially in a market with a lot of inventory. So why exactly do I ask this?
1. Sellers, Take Off Your Rose-Coloured Glasses
This question helps us get real about the condition of your home. I know that when you're preparing to sell, it’s easy to focus on highlighting all the great things - why someone should buy your home. And that’s not wrong! That mindset is what gets people in the door. But once a buyer becomes seriously interested, their feedback - and especially their offer - will often reflect the flaws more than the features.
So how do we get ahead of that? By answering the question. As the homeowner, you’ve likely gotten used to a few quirks over the years. Maybe the paint’s a little tired in certain areas. Maybe the living room carpet is due for an upgrade. Or maybe the kitchen works just fine, but it hasn’t been touched since the early 2000s. These might not seem like a big deal to you—but when I ask what you’d change if you had to live here for five more years, it brings those things to the surface.
It’s a way to step back and look at the home through a buyer’s eyes. If something stands out to you, even just a little, chances are it’ll stand out to them too. So when a buyer gives negative feedback, or when an offer comes in lower than expected, you won’t be caught off guard. We’ve already had the conversation. We’ve already identified potential objections, and we’re ready to handle them.
2. You Don’t Have to Renovate, Just Be Realistic
To be clear: asking this question is not about listing out things that you should be updating or fixing before putting your house on the market. Despite what it seems like, you don’t have to go out and do a bunch of renovations before selling - in many cases, it’s not worth the time or money. But by identifying areas of the home that might raise eyebrows, we can decide together whether it's worth making a few updates, offering a credit, or simply pricing accordingly.
At the end of the day, the goal is to sell your home quickly and for the best possible price - and that starts with understanding how buyers will view it. Asking what you would update if you had to stay gives us a clear window into that mindset.
3. Managing Expectations Starts With Smart Pricing
Here’s the truth: in a market with more available listings, the first impression of your home is everything! You might think thatis centred around how your home looks, but in reality, that first impression starts with price.
Buyers today are savvy. They’ve done their research, they’ve looked at the comps, and they know what else is out there. That’s why setting the right price from the very beginning is so important. If your home is priced too high - even by just a little - it can sit on the market while other, better-priced homes get snapped up. And once a listing starts to go stale, buyers begin to wonder what's wrong with it, even if there’s nothing wrong at all.
That’s where this question really helps. If we know there are things you’d change if you were staying - the things a buyer is likely to notice too - we can factor that into our pricing strategy from day one. That way, we’re not implying or promising something the home can’t deliver - and buyers appreciate that honesty and transparency. Ultimately, pricing your home right the first time will lead to better results than trying to "test the market" with a high price and hoping for the best.
Together, we’ll talk about what today’s buyers are really looking for, how your home compares, and how to price it so it stands out in a sea of other listings. We’ll take a real, honest look at what’s working, what might need a little tweak, and how to set things up so buyers are excited from the moment they walk through the door. That one unexpected question—“If you had to stay for five more years, what would you change?”—might seem simple, but it usually gives us exactly the insight we need to get your home sold quickly, with less stress, and for the right price.
