Do Certain Paint Colors Increase Your Home’s Value?
Can the paint colors in your home really affect your home’s value?
Yes; They actually can.
UNDERSTANDING HOW THE APPRAISER CONSIDERS COLOR
First, it’s important to understand an appraiser’s job. An appraiser’s job is to develop an opinion of value that a typical buyer and a typical seller will agree on based on the most recent comparable data.
Now, there’s not an exact grading scale for appraisers to rank paint colors per se. However, appraisers do take colors into consideration under the condition rating. Usually, a very colorful property is going to be very case specific. So, although you may not see a direct value on this, it can affect marketability.
Under the condition rating that appraisers have to give, appraisers consider how updated or not updated a home is. Paint colors can sometimes be very telling with how updated a home is because usually painting is one of the first things done when people want to make repairs and/or update their home. The lack of painting in updated colors many times is a tell tale sign that most everything else in the home is not updated. But of course this is not always the case.
That is exactly why the appraiser, for the most part, is looking at the condition. A house that is well maintained all-around and in great/clean condition, but is dated, could potentially do better under the condition rating than an updated house that has not been as well maintained and kept clean. The appraiser is mostly looking for wear and tear—not necessarily specific colors.
COLORS’ EFFECTS
A house will appear more updated if it’s painted in the current most popular colors. This is exactly why real estate agents/REALTORS® usually recommend that you paint with neutral colors. Neutral colors such as grays, whites, and beiges are the most popular right now. Light grays have stolen the show for a while now, but we are beginning to see more and more people using whites and beiges to bring their home up-to-date.
These colors are easy on the eyes for the vast majority of people. People see these colors as fresh and clean and as a blank slate. For many, neutral colors is what they want anyways. When you choose to forego painting your home in neutral colors, you run the risk of more people not being able to see themselves living in your home if you are trying to sell. Also, consider the fact that a buyer is going to see more dollar signs they will have to spend on painting which can deter them from a home.
YOUR HOUSE IS JUST THAT—YOURS!
All in all, your house is yours! If you love color, by all means, paint the rainbow in your home. Just understand how color can affect your home’s potential value from the professional opinion of an appraiser, the real estate agents/REALTORS®, and the general public. Thankfully, painting is one of the most affordable updates you can make in a home—especially when you do it yourself! This means it’s relatively easy to change when you decide to sell, so for now, enjoy your home and make it your own. And remember, a colorful house will vary based on buyer preference and an appraiser is looking more at the wear and tear on the house, not necessarily the colors, though the colors can at times have an effect.
