Should You Paint Before You Sell?

It's the busy season for buying and selling real estate which also means it's a busy season for color consultants and painters preparing houses.  Homeowners and realtors alike recognize the value of investing in a professional paint job. 

Kim Travascio, Qualifying Broker with Heart Homes, LLC explains, "When clients narrow their home search down, they are going to choose the home that they feel most comfortable in and can visualize living in. A fresh paint job can be the deciding factor for that."

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Here is what we think you should know from the professionals about painting before you sell.
 
The top 3 reasons you should paint:

1. If it has been more than 5 years since you painted, your walls are dirtier than you think. We see it time and time again, when your furniture and your wall-hangings are in place, and you are in the home every day, you don't always notice how dingy the walls have become.  As soon as you start decluttering and staging your home to sell, your eyes and the eyes of potential buyers are now focused on the imperfections. It's time for a fresh coat of paint.
2. You've got a lot of color.  While the home magazines and paint stores show off rooms beautifully decorated and saturated in color, choosing and loving those colors is a very personal experience. A potential buyer may not be able to see beyond the colors you've chosen and if their furniture or style doesn't match, they may not be able to overlook and see your home as one they could comfortably live in. 
3. The exterior is showing signs of environmental damage. It's not just about curbside appeal (although that is super important) but once your exterior paint starts to peel or chip or your wood work starts to dull and gray, you've had some damage from the elements. The longer that area goes without fresh paint or stain, the more damaging it can get, to the point where you may need to replace some wood. Potential buyers see that as a red flag that you didn't take good care of the home and that they may need to invest more money to get it up to par. It's human nature to assume if you didn't take good care of one thing, then overall you may not have taken good care of anything. That may not be true at all but why give that impression?

 
 
Top 3 paint tips to getting a return on your investment:

1. Stick with whites or neutrals. A clean slate makes it easy for a potential buyer to visualize their furnishings and style in your home. There are still many whites and neutrals to choose from that it doesn't have to be stark white or lack character or style. The safest bet when choosing a white or neutral is to make sure the undertone of the chosen paint color matches the undertone(s) of the fixed elements that are staying like flooring and cabinets.
   
2.  Be strategic with sheen. Flat and matte finishes hide imperfections. So if your walls aren't perfect (and most aren't) don't draw attention to them with shinier finishes. For more information on how to choose sheen see Choosing Paint Sheen.
3. Get a professional opinion and a professional paint job. Check with your realtor or a professional painter like us who has experience with what should be done and the most cost effective ways to do it without compromising quality. The benefits of hiring a professional painter who is licensed, bonded and insured, far outweigh the savings you may have by doing it yourself or hiring an amateur. We receive calls from people who start a house painting project thinking it is going to be a breeze and find it is harder than they thought. Or they hire someone who says they can do it and come to find out that person was not qualified or ethical in their business dealings. Having a professional house painter is a wise investment and yields professional results. 

 
Tanya Otero-Villalobos, Associate Broker, Buyer's Agent for Keller Williams says, "I often see home buyers struggle with the aesthetics of what could be a great home. Specifically paint...they see dingy worn walls or colors that are not pleasing to them and sometimes cannot get past it. I counsel them on what a fresh coat of paint can do to change the overall feeling and make a house, their home. We let sellers know the importance of painting prior to putting their house on the market. Which quite simply, with a nice neutral coat of paint on the walls, can lend to the overall appeal and to a much quicker sale of the house." 
 
Whether you are a buyer, a seller, or a realtor, we are happy to talk to you about your painting and color needs to make that house a dream home!

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