By Amy DeYoung
Updated Jan 23, 2023
By Amy DeYoung
Updated Jan 23, 2023
Should homeowners paint their houses before selling them? In almost any case, the answer is a resounding yes.
Painting your home typically has a strong return on investment. However, you’ll want to consider the state of your home, current color schemes, if you need an exterior paint job, and much more. Keep reading to assess what parts of your home you should paint and why it’s almost always worth the cost of painting to increase the value of your home.
There are several situations where you should always paint your home before selling it:
For starters, most real estate experts say that a good exterior paint job is the single most significant, cost-effective improvement a homeowner can make before listing their home on the real estate market. It’s also recommended that your exterior paint job makes your home look different from the neighbors but not too different. After all, you don’t want to make your home stick out like a sore thumb. A Zillow analysis of home sales demonstrated that the color “greige,” a shade between light beige and gray, sold the best, and you should save statement colors for detailing.
Many surveys have studied the effect of painting the outside of your home and how it affects the value of your home. One study found that exterior paint jobs increase your home’s value by 2% to 5%. While this may not sound incredible, this translates to $15,000 if you receive a 3% return on a home worth half a million dollars.
In addition to painting the outside of your home, painting your home’s interior can result in being able to raise your home’s sale price by one to three percent. Some of the top areas to paint include cabinets, behind the toilet, trim, kitchen walls, and the living room. Don’t neglect to paint any rooms with unique, bold, or trendy colors either.
Unless the paint color trend is current, you won’t want your home to be sporting these trendy colors as they will look more outdated and old. While you may love that lime green trim, it’s unlikely that many others will. Remember, you want to make your home viewing a blank slate so the potential buyer can easily project their ideal home decor, furniture, and setup onto your home.
Lastly, consider painting your home to improve how it looks in photos. Homes with fresh paint show better in pictures, which is crucial when most shoppers look at homes online before they even consider touring them. A bright, clean home gives buyers a good feeling about the property, appears bigger in photos, and doesn’t distract from their own individual tastes.
Avoid these mistakes when painting your home to increase its value:
A DIY painting project or hiring a local painting company to fix peeling paint and scuffs and give your home a fresh look can help you sell your home for more money. This simple upgrade may also help your home sell faster. Remember that the cost of paint per square foot is typically only a couple of dollars, so painting your home is almost always a fantastic investment.
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