When you’re getting ready to sell your home, it helps to take a step back and try and look at your house through a potential buyer’s eyes.
Sounds easy enough. But it can be difficult to truly put yourself in their shoes. After all, you’ve lived there for years. So little things like scuffs on the wall, dust on the light fixtures, or a squeaky front door easily blend into the background when you’re used to them.
But you can also be blissfully unaware of some things that might be more offensive if someone pointed them out. You might not only be used to living with a very bright shade of blue, it might be a color you think is stunning. Or while your home may not smell weird to you, a total stranger might pick up on the fact that you have a cat the minute they walk through the front door.
That’s why Realtor.com recently suggested what they call a ‘friend inspection’ before putting your house on the market. They suggest inviting your most brutally honest friend to walk through it and tell you what they see. Their fresh perspective might reveal things you might not notice.
It’s decent advice, but perhaps not the best advice.
Because as helpful as a blunt friend can be, there’s someone far better equipped to give you an honest assessment: your real estate agent.
Give Your Agent Permission to Be Brutally Honest
Your agent might not lead with “brutally honest,” but they need to be. It’s part of their job. The trick is, agents have to walk a fine line between being polite and being real. No one wants to offend a potential client before the listing paperwork is even signed, so they’ll usually start with compliments about your home’s best features.
But if you invite their full honesty—and you should—you’ll quickly find they can be your most valuable critic.
Agents know what buyers fixate on, what they’ll overlook, and what sends them running. Years of showing homes, writing offers, and watching what actually sells gives them an instinct that even your most design-savvy friend can’t match.
Of course they’ll spot the positives you might take for granted, like a great layout or natural light that photographs beautifully. But they’ll also notice the little things that quietly chip away at perceived value—the lighting that feels dim, the flooring transition that doesn’t quite line up, or the faint pet odor you’ve stopped noticing altogether.
And unlike your friend, your agent’s feedback is grounded in experience, not just their opinion. Every observation they make is based upon what they’ve come to know and understand working not only with other sellers, but also (and possibly more importantly) buyers.
That’s why it pays to let them be candid early on. The more you empower your agent to tell you what they really think, the better prepared you’ll be for what happens next, because their evaluation doesn’t stop after that first walk-through.
In fact, they often use several key moments and tactics to gauge how buyers will react to your home…
Your Agent Might Invite Some Other People in to Be Honest…
What most sellers don’t realize is that your agent’s evaluation doesn’t stop at their own opinion. Many take the process a few steps further to gather a broader and more realistic sense of how the market will react.
Here are some examples of how your agent might help you see the home through other peoples’ eyes:
- The Agent’s Initial Walkthrough
This is the first and most personal step. Your agent will go room by room, often using all their senses—sight, smell, even sound—to note anything that might raise a red flag for buyers. Lingering pet odors, creaky floors, dim lighting, or worn-out carpet? They’ll spot it immediately and help you decide what’s worth fixing. - In-Office Peer Input
The insights and suggestions other agents bring to the table can also be helpful. Many agents invite trusted colleagues from their own company to preview the home before it hits the market, or even before they give a homeowner their final advice. These mini “office tours” provide multiple professional opinions on pricing, presentation, and first impressions. - The Broker Open
Once your home is officially listed, a broker open house allows agents from other brokerages (not buyers yet) to walk through and offer candid feedback. This step can be invaluable: you’ll get early insight into what agents think their buyers will love or question, allowing you to make quick adjustments before the first public showing. - The Public Open House and Real Buyer Reactions
Many agents also use the first public open house to get a read on how actual buyers react. A seasoned agent will quietly observe visitors’ reactions and listen to their unfiltered comments. That real-time feedback helps fine-tune your strategy during the critical first days on the market, when interest is highest.
By layering all of these perspectives, your agent can help you see your home the way the market truly does.
But of Course Your Friend Is Welcome to Give Their Opinion!
Having a “friend inspection” isn’t a bad idea. If you have a trusted pal who’ll give you candid feedback, by all means invite them over. A second (or third) set of eyes never hurts.
But just keep in mind that even the bluntest friend doesn’t know the market dynamics, buyer psychology, or pricing strategy that a full-time agent does.
So by all means, let your friend point out that your entryway feels cluttered or that the bathroom lighting could be brighter. Then let your agent show you how to turn those observations into an action plan that adds real market value.
The Takeaway:
Before putting your house on the market, it helps to take a step back and look at it through the eyes of potential buyers. However, you might be a little biased, or just so used to some things that it would never even occur to you that it could be a problem.
Inviting a brutally honest friend over for a “friend inspection” can certainly give you a more objective perspective. Another set of eyes never hurts, so feel free to have a friend take a look around.
But ultimately, your agent’s trained eye, market expertise, and professional network take that insight several steps further. So encourage your agent to tell you the honest truth about your home, and be ready to listen to their advice.
