Painting Your House For Resale

From a realtor’s perceptive curb appeal makes a home sell faster and at a better price. According to the National Association of Realtors, curb appeal, that is a positive first impression, sells more than half of all houses. Curb appeal gets the buyer out of the car and into the front door where the sale is made.

A fresh coat of paint can give a home energy. Faded, chalking, or peeling paint on a home’s exterior not only looks unattractive but it also suggests the home has not been kept up on the inside either.PaintSwashBrush

Painting it yourself can be time consuming but it is the least expensive way to get the largest return on your biggest investment.

The hardest part about painting a home for resell is to take yourself out of the color choice. Your favorite color may not be desirable to potential buyers.

Color Selection

Many homebuyers buy your neighborhood as much as they are buying your home. Study homes on your street.
Few people want a home that is a landmark because its color clashes with the neighborhood. You want your paint job to look fresh, clean, and compatible with the homes on your street. As do-it-yourself instructor Bob Vila is fond of saying, “Be kind to your neighbors when picking color schemes.”

Popular colors in the Pacific Northwest include all shades of blue, tan, light gray, brown, beige, pale yellow, dark green, and barn red.

Note Fixed Features

Be observant. Take into account the colors on or around your home that will not be painted.

What colors harmonize with the roof, the patio pavers, or the landscaping? If your lot is heavily wooded, the shade will make any house color look dark. In contrast, if your house sits on a sun-drenched lot, any color seems light. If you have outbuildings, such as a tool shed or doghouse, consider painting them to match the house. This unifies the setting. It also speaks volumes about upkeep.

Create Balance

Interesting architectural details can be highlighted with a contrasting color. Darker colors are best for accenting recesses and lighter shades highlight details that project out from the main structure

Utilitarian downspouts, gutters, and vents should be painted the same color as the body of the home in order to camouflage them. Painting the exterior of a large home a dark color makes the home appear smaller. Painting a small home a light color makes it seem larger. A two- or three-story house can appear shorter by painting the upper portion a darker shade than the bottom. A single-story ranch home can appear taller but more compact by painting vertical corner boards a contrasting color.

Painting the porch a lighter color makes the home feel welcoming. Warm colors — reds and yellows — appear to bring the home closer to the curb. Cool colors — blues and greens — visually sets the home back from the curb.

Be Conservative but Not Boring

A safe approach to using color is to pick a color for the body of the house, and than select a variation of that color — either a lighter or a darker shade for the trim.

Last, select an accent color for the front door. An easy way to make sure the color coordinates with the whole is to match the door color to the roof, or the door color to hard surfaces, like brick columns or walkway pavers. And don’t forget to bring a variation of the door color into the entryway to lead potential buyers inside.

Which paint to use

If your home is up for sale the easiest paint to use will be exterior low-sheen latex that cleans up with soap and water.

A low-sheen paint such as flat or eggshell reflects less light than a satin or gloss finish and thus hides surface imperfections. Low sheen paint is also more likely to cover in one coat than a semi-gloss or gloss finish.

Don’t forget to prime bare or repaired spots. If not primed, these areas absorb paint differently than the previously painted surfaces and the surface will look blotchy instead of newly painted.