Why Paint If You’re Selling Your House?
Do you love the time and expense it takes to paint every wall in the house? Maybe on a small scale, it might be kind of therapeutic to paint. I mean, who doesn’t love reviving an old, paint chipped stool or bringing an old chest of drawers to life with a can of paint?
Once you plan to paint one room (or more rooms, yikes), it can be an instant energy zapper. After purchasing supplies, choosing the paint, and preparing the room with tape and tarps, it’s easy to get that I-need-a-vacation-after-this kind of feeling.
On the other hand, if you’re excited about a bedroom wall color that you know will work with the beautiful bedroom set you purchased, it’s a miracle how you’ve tapped into an extra energy reserve to see the final result.
Then, the day arrives when you’re ready to sell your house. You meet with your agent, and talk about the process and what it’ll take to market the house. Then, she mentions repainting a few rooms. Without a second thought, you ask the big question…
The big question about painting your house
Once you’re in the market to sell your house, it requires an investment in time, energy and money to market it for homebuyers. But, deep down, you want to do as little as possible to the house.
Then, the meeting with your real estate agent changes everything. Things get real when you have to face the long list of “to dos” to prepare the house to market and sell it. Oh and then there’s that little task involved called “packing”. Sometimes, it feels like you don’t even have the energy to prepare to move into another place let alone working on a house you plan to leave.
So, it’s no surprise to the real estate agent or home staging consultant when they receive some pushback at the recommendation to painting a small space to painting the exterior walls of the house.
Then, the question pops up… Why would I paint the house when I’m ready to sell?
That’s a valid question. You may think that the new homeowner will come in and paint the house anyway. And… you’re probably right.
At some point, the new homeowner will paint walls to suit her preferences or wait until the walls require a paint update. However, today’s homebuyers would prefer a “move-in ready” appearance to the house. Naturally, new homeowners want the option to choose when and if they will be ready to paint the house.
If you enjoy your home with a unique wall color, or your walls developed the usual wear and tear with obvious scuffs and dinginess, homebuyers start calculating the costs to repaint a few rooms. Without missing a beat, homebuyers see a different value in the home and begin to revisit their “alternative homes” list.
You’re no different than homeowners who crave the greatest possible outcome for your house selling experience. However, it often means pushing past your comfort zone and seeing the house as if you were hired as a marketing specialist.
This means, putting your “marketing hat” on to help homebuyers see every ounce of value at the offered price. Helping homebuyers view the house as being in move-in ready condition offers significant advantages. Therefore, repainting the home may be the best option to gaining a higher return on investment rather than leaving it to the homebuyer’s “creative” imagination.
If you need ideas on what colors to choose for your pre-listed house, you can get an idea for what works to get you started on choosing paint colors. Discover the best five paint colors for a pre-listed house.
When you’re off the hook from painting
If you’ve jumped to this part, you’ll discover if your house gets a pass on re-painting.
Want to know when you can avoid the paint brush or calling your trusted house painter? Here’s five points to consider when reviewing your home’s condition to skip the need for repainting:
The walls, trim and baseboards appear free from chips, dings or nicks.
The walls present a clean and fresh appearance without any fading or dinginess.
The home has a neutral odor and lacks strong scents from smoke, cooking, or pet accidents.
The paint colors, throughout the house, appear neutral enough to blend with most furnishing styles and colors.
The house received repainting work within the last 2-3 years.
In a nutshell, painting your home’s interior and/or exterior allows a win-win situation for you and the homebuyer. As mentioned earlier, no one wants to take on the enormous task of painting. If you’ve painted a room in your house, you know it’s no easy feat. Plus, passing the painting to a professional can also be a significant investment. So, if you don’t need to paint, that’s great! You’ll have more time and budget to focus on other tasks to get the property ready for sale.