An all beige/tan house...makes me sad :( (appraisal, housing, offer)
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Painting rooms to your taste is part of buying and maintaining a house. Anyone who can't handle that should continue either renting or living with Mommy and Daddy.
It's not a big deal for us, as we have painted almost every house we have bought. We loved getting it for $15,000 less than comps too.
Strong paint colors affect resale because they limit the number of buyers. Heck, wallpaper takes even more buyers out of the equation.
I feel the same way about colors. When I was looking and would see a blue/pink/red/purple/yellow accent wall, or worse ENTIRE room I would immediately figure in repainting by a professional. I loathe painting and prefer white with a grey, beige or similar (neutral) accent wall.
I prefer for my flair to be on art, furniture, and decorations.
+1. When I was looking to buy a home recently, homes with oddly painted walls were kicked to the bottom of my "want to buy" list. Although painting is one of the less expensive repairs, it is messy, time consuming, and inconvenient, and I didn't want the hassle of dealing with that when trying to close on a home. I wanted the walls in white or off-white. Ironically, for the home exterior, I feel exactly the opposite way. Our suburbs in TX have this air of sameness about them: every house is beige, and every house looks the same. A different exterior paint color increased the home's value in my eyes. In Alaska, houses are more unique looking than the beige suburban cookie cutter craze that has lasted for decades here in TX.
Our first home was a new-build townhouse. When we were ready to trade up, the market was bad and we weren't able to sell. We rented out the place for three years. At that point, the market had improved. So...once we got the tenant out, we set about to paint the place plus we ordered some new neutral colored carpeting.
A man and his realtor came to look at it while we were painting. We told them that new carpet was coming soon. The man asked what color the carpet was going to be and we told him. He was not happy because he wanted blue carpeting throughout the house!
As they were leaving, our daughter heard his realtor explain to him that when people fix up a house for resale, they put in neutral carpeting and that no one would put in blue carpet.
Now, blue is my favorite color but I would never carpet our current home in all blue!
I would of gone out there and said if you buy right now I'll credit you ( whatever you would of paid for carpet ) towards the purchase for the carpet you want and you pay the difference if you want higher grade. And it will be installed upon closing before you move in.
This conversation is so market dependent. We once looked at houses in Cary, NC. Every house felt exactly the same. Boring cookie cutter, beige carpets, beige walls. The only houses we remembered and liked were the (very few ones) with some color and personality to distinguish themselves. Color helped.
On the other hand, in the Boston area where we live, selection is so limited that it really doesn't matter what color a house is. As long as every room isn't an appalling neon color, we can't be that picky. In general neutral colors work best here because the houses are already so different from each other.
It's possible to neutralize the blue with other colors in accessories and linens. I've seen some horrible pepto bismol pink bathrooms where tearing out everything is impossible for a move... they use a stronger color and patterns to move the eyes away from the pink, and people barely notice the pink bathroom.
You're right. The blue is a really pretty shade sort of a blue-violet base not a pukey old fashioned color. And the painter did an impeccable job not a single drop of paint bled anywhere onto the ceiling etc. I used alot of white that lightened the room up.
I'm just not the cool color type of person.
But if you came in my place you'd think it was really pretty so I just go with it LOL.
Once I was offering a brand new sofa to a girl's daughter at work. She didn't have anything and had to furnish a place.
She goes "I don't really like green and yellow" I said "pretend you love it, nobody will ever know". HAHAHA
This conversation is so market dependent. We once looked at houses in Cary, NC. Every house felt exactly the same. Boring cookie cutter, beige carpets, beige walls. The only houses we remembered and liked were the (very few ones) with some color and personality to distinguish themselves. Color helped.
On the other hand, in the Boston area where we live, selection is so limited that it really doesn't matter what color a house is. As long as every room isn't an appalling neon color, we can't be that picky. In general neutral colors work best here because the houses are already so different from each other.
People can be influenced by many things, including paint colors. Who are we to think that they are "not ready to buy"? When it comes to homebuying, people feel strongly about many things and that's their right. They are the ones forking over the money, no? BTW, I've already owned already so I'm not a first timer. Like I said upthread, I like what I like. An all beige/tan home or an all white home counts as a negative for me. It doesn't mean that I will totally disregard the other aspects of the home, but it will have some bearing. I don't want to paint when I move in and an all beige home will force me to do that.
Veering off this post, let me say this, I have no issue whatsoever with people using neutral colors. Heck, our current home is due for a paint job at ten years and we are using neutrals this time around (except the yellowy beige!). It's called VARIETY. We use many colors in the palette, not just one. We have grays and greiges and taupes and heck, our master is plum. People are pulling wacky colors out here as examples and that's at the complete end of the spectrum. You don't have to use "out there" colors to be expressive AND neutral at the same time. Why one or the other?
In addition, if you live in a production builder home, things have a tendency to look "cookie cutter" -- all rooms beige boxes with an angle here and there. If Bedroom 4 is beige and Bedroom 3 is beige they all look the same - a chain of beige boxes, with the exception being the master (which is larger). I know that I am in the minority but like I said in my OP, an all beige home or a white home is a turnoff for me.
Well you said you were just looking for "kicks".
I think a person who is a serious buyer is going to have a lot higher priorities than rejecting a house because the inside paint is boring. Insisting on a paint theme that happens to match your tastes is going to severely limit your choices. Plus when they move their furniture out you're going to have fading, wall marks etc. anyway. I would imagine you would be completely OUT of the new home market since very few builders will paint any color you want unless you're building custom but you said "production builder home".
Then again, as someone else pointed out it's a matter of supply and demand.
Did you ever buy new construction? The "paint" is often awful. Regardless of the color. It's also not advisable to paint right away because you still have to fix your nail pops etc as the house settles. I even had my corner beads separate. So new construction is a totally different animal IMO.
There's nothing "wrong" with not liking new construction that you think is cookie cutter. But here in FL we are building A LOT - finishing off developments that were left incomplete during the real estate crash. They are adding 250 houses all over the place in many many developments and they're ALL going to be neutral paint LOL.
I think a person who is a serious buyer is going to have a lot higher priorities than rejecting a house because the inside paint is boring. Insisting on a paint theme that happens to match your tastes is going to severely limit your choices. Plus when they move their furniture out you're going to have fading, wall marks etc. anyway. I would imagine you would be completely OUT of the new home market since very few builders will paint any color you want unless you're building custom but you said "production builder home".
Then again, as someone else pointed out it's a matter of supply and demand.
Did you ever buy new construction? The "paint" is often awful. Regardless of the color. It's also not advisable to paint right away because you still have to fix your nail pops etc as the house settles. I even had my corner beads separate. So new construction is a totally different animal IMO.
There's nothing "wrong" with not liking new construction that you think is cookie cutter. But here in FL we are building A LOT - finishing off developments that were left incomplete during the real estate crash. They are adding 250 houses all over the place in many many developments and they're ALL going to be neutral paint LOL.
1. I'm looking for kicks because I need to unload my current home and I'm in the process of doing that. I doubt my opinions would change when I am ready to look.
2. I do have higher priorities than paint color, but that doesn't discount the fact that a paint color can leave a negative impression upon me. That's just how it is and since we're spending the money.. I'm sure the beige homeowner isn't worrying one bit because there's someone out there who likes all beige.
3. Yes, I currently live in a new construction home. HATED the colors and immediately changed them right off the bat. Don't want to deal with that this next time around and chances are, I'm not buying new construction again for a multitude of reasons that have nothing to do with paint colors.
I have observed that the homes that overall have a nice layout and harmonious paint colors (the ones I liked) were all pending. Go figure.
You do realize a bucket of paint is $25 at Home Depot, right?
Paint is the EASIEST thing to change.
Besides, I for one tend to like beige. It makes a space seem open and airy. With love it or hate it colors, I usually hate it.
Being different simply for the sake of being different is dumb. Do what feels right.
It's 100% a matter of preference.
If it is "so easy to change" then why do people have an issue with a lime green bathroom then? It goes both ways.
Using variety when it comes to painting isn't being "different for the sake of being different". If done right, it makes a home look that much better than some non-descript all beige home with beige tile to match.
Then again, I freely admit that I am very much into color. Both the exterior and interior of my home use quite a bit of the color palette and that's what I expect from my new home. I've done way too much with this current house to want to embark on that journey again. And the price we're paying, we want what we want.
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