So you’ve found your dream home. It meets all the needs of your growing (or shrinking) family and even has that three car garage you have been wanting. Your next call is to your trusted Realtor® to come over and give you advice about what you need to do to get your house ready for sale. Painting your house BEFORE you put it on the market was not on your list of things to do. But it should be, and here is why…
A house on the market needs to be as neutral as possible to appeal to the greatest number of buyers. Chances are, you probably have a few rooms painted with bright, bold colors (thanks to all those great HGTV shows for giving you the inspiration to go BOLD). While the bold colors may look great with your furniture, window treatments, artwork, or even match your dog (you get the idea), the chances are that prospective buyers will not have your taste in furniture, artwork or window treatments. Truth be told, your typical house hunters do not have a lot of imagination to get past your color choices. Walls (and ceilings too) painted in neutral colors will allow prospective buyers to envision themselves living in your old house.
While you’re at it, don’t forget the exterior – especially the front door. The last thing you want to do is scare away potential buyers if the first thing they see is faded or peeling paint. Prospective buyers are going to wonder before they even walk through your front door, what else in this house has not been maintained; and how much more is it going to cost me?
Over the past nine years, I have worked with many MIBOR (Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of REALTORS) Realtors® to neutralize their listings. My Realtor® clients have often told me that after I have gone through and neutralized a home, it increases buyer interest and more importantly, the neutral paint job helps sell the house.
So, what are you waiting for? The sooner you neutralize those bright, bold colors in your house, and take care of any exterior painting needs, the sooner you can get out from under it and move into your dream house.
Be advised, if your house was built before 1978, and you hire a painting firm to neutralize your house or put a fresh coat of paint on its exterior, they must be certified by the EPA as a Lead Safe Firm. It’s not just painting firms that are required to be certified. All contractors that work in homes built before 1978 must be certified in lead safety by the EPA or face stiff fines.
For more information about Greg Mrakich and Greg Mrakich Painting, click here. Or, if you live in the metropolitan Indianapolis area and would like to contact me, click here.
Tags: EPA certification, EPA Renovation Repair and Painting RRP Rule, Exterior Painting, Greg Mrakich Interior Painting Tips, indianapolis area painting companies, Indianapolis area painting contractors, Interior Painting, interior painting with bold colors, Preparing a home for sale
