|
Increase Your Odds of Selling Quickly, Think Paint
It can't be overstated - when it comes to buying a house, the first
impression is everything. If you're selling or getting ready to sell in
the coming months, one of the easiest and most dramatic ways to enhance
that first impression is through paint.
Fresh paint makes your house look clean, bright, and inviting.
"Painting your house's exterior
before you put it on the market give the biggest bang for your fix-up
buck - if you use colors that conform with your neighborhood's
decorating norm," says Eric Tyson and Ray Brown in their book "House
Selling for Dummies (Hungry Minds Inc., 1999).
Agents agree that sellers
shouldn't take curb appeal lightly, especially when so many buyers are
doing their homework and looking at the exterior of
houses before they even contact an agent.
Curb appeal is crucial. Buyers
get a lot of information from the web now and I find that often they
have already driven around with a list of addresses and have decided
which ones they want to see, giving curb appeal a lot of weight.
The Rohm and Haas Paint Quality
Institute, an educational resource for paint and paint-related
coatings, offers the following tips for painting before selling:
If nothing else, paint at least the door, door frame, and foyer or first room the would-be buyers will see.
Use fresh, neutral colors. If you're painting the
exterior, make sure the color blends in with the neighborhood. Opt for
neutral whites, creams, or
neutrals. The PQI says these colors appeal to the greatest number of
people.
Whether you paint yourself or hire someone, make
sure all the prep work is done - washing all dirt away, and patching
and repairing any necessary areas on the surface before it is painted.
Paint railings, window frames, trim, and other accents to freshen up the exterior.
Promote any recent painting in your ads, flyers and
online descriptions of your house. Homeowners and buyers place a high
value on the painted
appearance of a home. Include the date the paint job was completed and
the quality of paint that was used.
If you're thinking about going with a different color, the experts
say you should consider the architecture of the home. You should also
consider:
What the house is made of. You can easily paint
wood, brick, masonry, or aluminum siding. But if you have vinyl siding,
it should only be painted the
same color or a lighter color. Dark paint will absorb the heat and
ultimately cause the vinyl to warp in the heat.
The fixed colors - roof color, wood, masonry, and stone.
The surroundings - houses and other buildings in the neighborhood.
And if you don't to paint the whole house, consider an eye-popper like the front door.
It is very important to have a home looking its best and that
starts as soon as a buyer drives up to the home. One important tip is
to paint the front door if you cannot paint the whole house. This
brings a good feeling as you enter the house.
Another important tip is to get all your painting done before potential buyers view the house.
It is important to have all the repairs and paint done before going on
the market. You need that "bam experience" from day one on the market.
Anything less than bam and you're just helping the other homes in the
neighborhood sell first.
Written by Michele Dawson
Wondering What Your Home Is Worth? -- Let me show you. |
