Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'll be putting my house up for sale this summer, have owned it 19 years, a townhouse, and, figuring I was going to die here (just turned 65), I painted every room a different color, in some cases, 2-3-4 different colors in one room, like the kitchen, with bright red countertops. Even the interior of the garage has 10 different colors!
I've been told: You've got to paint all the walls white or beige before you sell it!
Alternative? How about throwing in a painting allowance into the price?
As I look through houses for sale, in Tucson where I plan to move, I see lots of interiors of homes with lots of bright colors, but being me, it's no deterrent to me whatsoever if bedroom walls are painted purple or cobalt blue!
I'm really in no great shape to re-paint this entire house, but I could be up to it, if I had assurances that if I did whiten all the walls, it would sell better. Is it true, the white or beige walls make a house sell better?
I think you will be better off painting it. Some will be turned off by the colors and not like the house. That will lower the price due to less people willing to bid on it. The buyers who can look past it and imagine that how it will look with colors they like, will still have to come up with the cash to paint it. If you deduct the paint cost from the price, then they still have to come up with the cash now. They might not have the cash, so the price deduction, means little to them.
Assuming they do have the cash, they will have to wait a couple weeks to move in due to painting. That's an inconvenience and they still have to pay the mortgage on the empty house. So just paint it if you can. Or at lease paint the kitchen and other main living areas and one bedroom. That way they can still move in and paint a smaller part of the house.
Sometimes an expense of time and effort and money is not about selling a home for more or even at asking price....but about selling it at all.
And the first presentation is important. I mean the first presentation the first time you put it on the market.
What people see can effect us physcally and physchologically. And room proportions can be skewed because of certain colors or shades.
I know the darker and brighter shades will take a lot of Kilz or whatever to cover.
Years ago we bought a house with red shag carpet and the kitchen had red tile walls. One room had green enamel paint. etc. etc.
We hadn't planned to flip it. Loved the yard. Felt ourselves forcing our minds to cancel out the other stuff and focus on the great house design. Made it more neutral, color accents more in the decor pieces. After a couple of years we found a house in an even better natural setting and moved. The house was very easy to sell at that point. Prospective buyers were saying where their art work would go, where there wall hangings would go, etc. instead of trying to see past wall colors for one thing.
There is a tendency for 'the marketing machine' to want all the homes to look the same so that a bland buyer will have a lot of options. The problem with this is that the home may not be seen at its full potential. However, if your colors are based on coordinating with your furniture and artwork it may be difficult for the buyer to evaluate the home.
So you are caught between wanting your place to look fabulous with your decor vs looking boring but easily evaluated. If you can afford to do so now, how about painting just the living room and kitchen to be neutral? Or, if your style uses really bold and contrasty colors, maybe you should repaint (gasp) everything. Perhaps you could decide based on how the color would come across if the whole place was empty. Would the colors then look garish, or are they still pleasing?
The average buyer will paint a few rooms.
Repainting an entire house? That will greatly reduce the buyer pool. You don't want to, and buyers who are in the midst of moving often don't want to, either.
You might look at repainting a few rooms, and letting those that are closest to "boring" stay that way.
As a recent buyer, I have to say I would have preferred to see beige walls rather than white. I might be in the minority, but I HATE white walls!
The house I bought is painted different colors. None are overly bright or garish, but they are dark and bold in some rooms. Even the tan colored walls in the living room and hallway are darker than what you would see in neutral beige homes. In the pictures, the sunlight gave it a yellowish tint. The family room is a couple shades of taupe/brown, kitchen is green, bathroom is blue, master bedroom is a dark, almost olive green. There is a dark red wall in the living room and a huge wrought iron wall hanging in the family room. I'm sure some people would have been turned off, but I fell in love with the pictures and really love the colors, and even the wall hanging. The red wall in the living room is something I was planning to do anyway. I would have been a little disappointed if all the walls had been white.
Who knows,maybe you'll find a potential buyer who loves your taste.
Last edited by TheBeagleLady; 04-21-2015 at 08:48 AM..
Reason: iPhone autocorrect is obnoxious!
People won't take the time to read the description that says there is a painting allowance. They will look at the online photos, see all the painting they will have to do, and then move on.
Have a stager come out and consult with you on what colors to pick for your area. Out here warm grays are really popular.
Sorry but a house with every room a different color and 2-3-4 different colors in the same room sounds like a hot mess to me. Visually, it most likely makes your home look chopped up and smaller than it is.
However, I don't think that needs to be a stark white.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
