Who buys this from you in five years?

It is a simple question and it is remarkably hard to answer well. Say it out loud about any property you are considering: who, specifically, buys this from me in five years?

Not the market. Not investors generally. A person, with a budget, a reason and alternatives.

Why the question works

It forces every vague assumption into the open. If the answer is another investor, then you are betting the investment case still looks good to someone else later, which means you need to understand what would make it stop looking good. If the answer is an end-user family, then unit layout, school proximity and community maturity matter more than yield.

If the honest answer is that you do not know, that is extremely useful information, and it is better to have it now.

The supply question underneath it

Your buyer will have choices. How many units substantially identical to yours will be available at the same time? In a large tower, the answer is often hundreds, and every one of those sellers is your direct competitor, pricing against you.

Scarcity is what protects an exit. Not quality, not location in the abstract, but the specific scarcity of the thing you own relative to demand for it.

Applying it

Before committing, write down the buyer profile, what they will be comparing your unit against, and what would have to be true for them to choose yours. If that paragraph is hard to write, the investment case is weaker than the brochure suggests, regardless of how good the building is.