How a Coat of Paint Can Increase or Decrease the Value of Your Home

Any improvement you make to your home should be done with the forethought of improving its value and increasing its appeal to prospective buyers. One of the least expensive ways to accomplish this is to grab a can of paint and a brush and get to work to create a positive first impression of your home.

According to canadianmortgagesinc.ca, painting the interior of a house can yield 75-100% return on investment (ROI) making it one of the top home improvements to make.

But making the wrong colour choice can not only hinder the return on investment but could potentially turn buyers away from your home.

When selling a house, it is a widespread belief that white and/or off-white are the best colours for interior painting. Neutral colours appeal to the widest range of buyers because they serve as a blank canvas, allowing buyers to envision themselves and their furniture in a home. Neutral colours include white, grey, and sometimes brown and beige. While white and off-white are safe colors to use. Colour choice will determine if an interior space appears larger and more spacious or smaller and cozier. Light tones can help increase the openness of a small space, while darker tones tend to create more intimacy. Cool and neutral wall colours are a big hit with buyers overall.

Every year Zillow releases a paint colour analysis. Using data from hundreds of thousands of listings, the company is able to link certain shades to selling better or worse than similar homes with white walls. The following are the room-by-room colours that Zillow’s statistical database showed did the best in 2019.

Zillow’s Best Interior Painting Colours when selling your home

Zillow Database Shows that these are colours to avoid! 

Kitchens: Great kitchens sell homes, so they are very important. According to Zillow, homes that have kitchens with gray blues on the walls sell for an average of $1,809 more. Furthermore, Zillow reports that homes with kitchens that have dark cabinets and light walls sold for an average of $1547 more.

Bathrooms: Another room where blue did well is the bathroom. In 2019, light blue bathrooms sold for an average of $5,440 more than estimated, according to Zillow.

Bedrooms: Light blues did the best. More than one article mentions “matte soft cerulean”. Cerulean comes from a Latin word meaning “sky” or “heavens”. Cerulean includes a range of blues. Matte refers to “dull” or “flat”. The blues with white baseboards did the best averaging $1,856 more than expected.

Living Rooms: Light beiges and gray browns sold for an average of $2,000 more.

Dining Rooms: Bluish gray averaged $1,926 more than homes with white dining rooms.

Exterior: homes with charcoal, or smoky to  jet black doors sell for $6,271 more than expected. Considering that a door paint job can cost approximately $100 to $400, a bucket of black paint is a stellar investment.

Kitchens: Kitchens painted yellow sold for $820 less on average.

Bathrooms: Bathrooms painted white sold for $4,035 less!

Bedrooms: Bedrooms painted pink sold for $208 less on average.

Living Rooms: Living rooms are the one place you want to avoid blues. Homes with blue living rooms sold for $820 less on average. Homes with dark red- or brown-colored walls sold for as much as $2,310 less than expected.

Check out the Sherwin Williams ColorSnap page: https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/color/color-tools/color-visualizer

or

Fun way to test colours in your home – check out this free app from the app store.

ColorSnap Visualizer App from Sherwin Williams Company

You can try on any Sherwin-Williams colour on your walls in real time using augmented reality or a photo of your space, tapping the wall to change colour instantly. You can also match colours to artwork in your home. Try it is fun and FREE.

In Summary

A fresh coat of paint over that brown wall you loved won’t cost you much compared to what you’ll gain in the selling process

Since buyers seem to home in on kitchens and bathrooms during the hunt for a new home, you will want to prioritize your painting to transform these two areas. The right colours and application will help define important spaces.

What are the trends in our local market? Houses painted whites, greys and neutral tones are the most popular. Greige is also popular which makes sense. Greige is a combination of gray and beige. Those that prefer grays usually support that color due to its ability to go with any furniture and flooring. Those that prefer a beige usually cite its feeling of warmth.

Repainting is one of the most common improvements when selling a home. It can have a big impact on your ability to attract an offer quickly and attain your ideal price point. If you are thinking of selling, just give us a call to help advise you on choosing the best interior painting colors for selling a house.

Sources: 

Zillow.com

Canadianmortgagesinc.ca