Sell That House: Painting

SELL THAT HOUSE: PAINTING

You are ready to sell your house, but you are reluctant to paint it. You want to know what are the benefits of painting. You want to know how much more money painting the house will give you versus not painting it. You believe that the choice of colors is a matter of personal preference, so why paint when the buyer is going to paint it again anyway. Maybe you think that your house is fine the way it is and if someone does not like it, then they can find another house.

First, maybe your house is fine just the way that it is, but you should consult a selling professional, such as a real estate agent, to help you make that determination. Remember that you have made the house meet your particular tastes, which may or may not be similar to the majority of buyers.

Second, consider that most buyers decisions are a combination of practical and emotional factors. The practical factors may include price, location, size, number of bedrooms and baths, and such, These are all factors to which we have little control. The house either meets these parameters or it does not. However, the emotional factors are much more difficult to verbalize. When the home feels right, they just know it.

When a house is freshly and professionally painted, it gives the suggestion that the entire house is well maintained. Even if someone wants different colors, the properly painted house has had any holes or imperfections corrected, which will make a repainting that much easier. A house which is painted in tasteful but neutral tones does not have to be painted immediately; the buyer has time to address other issues first, while not being embarrassed about their house needing to be painted.

From an appraisal standpoint, the painted house, unless it was a complete mess, will probably not have much more value if any over the not freshly painted house. In other words, a house that would be worth $300,000 without the new paint job, may still be worth $300,000 with the paint job to the appraiser, but to any given buyer, the new paint job could be worth the cost of the job and more. Keep in mind, that most buyers do not have a strong imagination. When they see a house that needs work, they simply leave and move on to the next house. The more buyers who find a house appealling, the more quickly the house will sell. For example, let us assume that over the course of a year, a nicely painted house may have 24 potential buyers. If these buyers are evenly distributed over the course of the year, then there would be 2 potential buyers per month. Now let us assume that the same house is not painted and the number of potential buyers over the course of a year for the home which needs attention is 6. It would take 4 months, or 4 times as long, to have the equivalent number of potential buyers as for the painted house. As a house stays on the market, it becomes stigmatized. Buyers start to think that something is wrong with it. This forces the price down, sometimes to prices lower than its true value.

Contact Ron Trzcinski of Zenith Realty at 410-935-5844 to learn more about preparing your house for the market.