First things first. You all know how important it is to keep your home in showing condition when you have your home on the market to sell. No clutter, messes, dirty laundry, etc. But it’s also important to make your home look the best it can in order to move quicker and to get you a good return on investment. Paint color is key.
Let’s start with what not to do. No wallpaper. I know it’s hard to remove. I know it matches the bath towels that you special ordered along with the custom faucets. But it just doesn’t work for most people. And the buyers that want move-in ready homes don’t want to deal with it, either. So if you have wallpaper, you’re probably going to benefit the most from this blog post. I suggest removing it and painting.
No white paint. This might sound surprising given that it’s neutral. But having all white walls can make your house look very sterile and not lived in. It also can appear too bright. You do want to keep the colors neutral. So if you’re going to be painting, I suggest light beige or light yellow.
Don’t go crazy. I am completely serious when I say that I’ve shown homes where one room is orange, another turquoise, another dark purple, etc. It looks hideous. If you have this in your home now and you are planning on selling, you’ll want to paint all the walls neutral to match. And remember that dark colors make a room look a lot smaller. So for those of you with navy blue bathrooms, now is the time to go neutral.
Here’s what does work. Make sure that there are no noticeable scratches or marks on walls. Touching up paint is very simple to do and can make a huge difference. It shows buyers that your home is well maintained and cared for. According to this AOL blog, “Karen Dembsky, president of Peachtree Home Staging LLC and Georgia’s Real Estate Staging Association, as well as a Pro Stager of the Year nominee, has the first and most important piece of advice before even tackling the issue of color.
‘A seller should always make sure that their paint has a fresh appeal, no dings, no marks. If there are any, it should be repainted or touched up because it gives the feeling of a well-maintained home,” she said. “The color has to be livable and appealing, you want a color where the buyer will come in and say that it’s not their first choice but they can live with it.'”
Dembsky suggests food-related colors for the kitchen, such as yellow, red, or orange. But this is not permission to go out and paint your kitchen bright orange. You still want to keep it soft and light. She doesn’t recommend bright colors for the bedrooms because people view bedrooms as a place to sleep and relax, so light and neutral is best. Dembsky recommends beige and light tan for bathroom walls. If you’re dying for a bit of color, play it up with colored hand towels, bath mats, and fun soaps. She does say that you can go for darker and richer colors in a home office, especially to play against a dark wood desk.
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