Would Your Client Rather? The Real Estate Edition

Every buyer has a wish list. The problem is that wish lists don't always survive contact with the market.

“Big backyard.”

“Beautiful kitchen.”

“Walkable neighbourhood.”

“Three-car garage.”

“Character.”

“New build.”

Then the right house comes along, and suddenly they have to choose. As REALTORS®, part of your job isn't just finding clients' homes that check the boxes. It's helping them figure out which boxes actually matter most.

So, the next time you're working with a buyer, try a little game of Would You Rather?

I've included some Canadian research that gives us a decently reliable answer, plus a few personal opinions on where the data doesn't quite settle the debate.

1. Would Your Client Rather Have a Big Backyard or an Amazing Kitchen?

This is a great question to ask early in the search.

Not:

“Do you want a backyard?”

Instead:

“If you had to give one up, which would you keep?”

The research gives us a pretty clear winner. A 2025 What Home Seekers Want survey found that 81% of Canadians said having a backyard was important or very important when considering a new home. Among people specifically looking for a single-family home, 76% included a backyard among their top five desired features, compared with 59% who selected a renovated kitchen or bathroom.

So, nationally, the backyard has the edge.

But here's where the Realtor comes in. A client may say they want a big backyard, until you discover they travel every weekend and hate yard maintenance. Another client may say the kitchen is their priority, only to spend every summer hosting friends outside.

The lesson: Don't just record the wish list. Find out how the client intends to live in the home.

2. Would Your Client Rather Have a Character Home or a Brand-New Build?

This is one where there isn't a reliable national survey asking Canadians to choose one over the other. So we shouldn't pretend there is. But there is an interesting piece of research worth knowing. A 2024 Liveability research found that 23% of Canadians considered the age of homes in a neighbourhood an important factor when deciding where they want to live. That doesn't mean 23% want an older home. It does tell us that the character and age of a neighbourhood matter to a meaningful portion of buyers.

The Realtor's take:

This is a great question to ask when you sense a client is attracted to a particular style of home.

“Would you rather spend your budget on character, or spend it on newer construction and fewer immediate projects?”

Because “character” and “low maintenance” are both valuable—they're just valuable to different people. The real skill is figuring out which trade-off your client will be happier living with.

3. Would Your Client Rather Have Walkability or More Square Footage?

This one can expose a surprising amount about a buyer.

Ask:

“Would you rather have a smaller home where you can walk to the places you use every week, or another 500 square feet somewhere you'd drive from?”

There isn't a reliable Canadian survey that asks that exact question. But there is useful context. Research found that 20% of Canadians identified walkability as an important liveability factor in 2024, compared with 37% in 2020. Meanwhile, affordability ranked first at 44%, while neighbourhood safety was identified by 34%.

The Realtor's take:

Don't assume that more space automatically means more value to your client. Ask what they would do with the extra space.

Is it a home office?

A playroom?

A guest room?

Storage?

Or simply… furniture?

Then ask what they would do with the extra time that a more convenient location might give them.

Sometimes the better question isn't:

“How much house do you need?”

It's:

“How do you want to spend your time?”

4. Would Your Client Rather Have a Great House or a Great Neighbourhood?

This is the question I'd ask almost every buyer.

Because houses can change.

Neighbourhoods are harder to change.

A kitchen can be renovated.

A basement can be finished.

A wall can be painted.

But you can't renovate the street outside your front door.

Research found that 44% of Canadians ranked affordability as their top liveability factor, with safety and other neighbourhood characteristics also playing significant roles.

The Realtor's take:

When a client falls in love with a house, it's tempting to focus on the house. But try getting them to fall in love with the 15-minute radius around it.

Where will they buy groceries?

Where will the kids play?

Where will they walk the dog?

How long will the commute actually feel?

What happens on a Saturday morning?

Where will they go for coffee?

Those answers can tell you more about whether they'll love living there than the granite countertops ever will.

5. Would Your Client Rather Have a Double Garage or a Huge Yard?

There isn't a reliable national survey that gives us a winner here either. But that doesn't mean the question isn't useful. In fact, it's probably more useful because there isn't a universal answer. For one buyer, a garage means two cars, bikes, skis, tools, and storage. For another, it's wasted square footage attached to a house they'd rather have more outdoor space around.

The Realtor's take:

Ask:

“What would you actually put in the garage?”

Then ask:

“What would you actually do in the yard?”

The answers are often more revealing than the original preference.

The Point Isn't to Find the Right Answer - It's to find your client's answer.

Real estate research can tell us what large groups of Canadians say they value. But your client isn't a statistic. They're a family with a particular routine, budget, priorities, and definition of a good life.

That's why some of the best questions a Realtor can ask aren't:

“How many bedrooms do you need?”

They're:

“What would you rather have?”

Because every home purchase involves trade-offs. Your job isn't necessarily to eliminate those trade-offs. It's to help your clients understand which ones they're happy to make.

A few questions to try with your next buyer:

Backyard or dream kitchen?

Character or new construction?

Walkability or extra square footage?

Better house or better neighbourhood?

Garage space or outdoor space?

And perhaps the most important one:

“Which one would you regret giving up?”

That's often where the real wish list begins!