Paint Colors That Will Sell Your Home

In your home, YOUR color choices are the only ones that matter… until it’s time to sell it.

You can paint your dining room red for a morning energy boost. You can redo your bathroom with a white-on-white color scheme for a spa-like feel. As a homeowner, you can decorate with colors that match your personal style. But when it comes to selling your home, the wrong color can affect how much a buyer is willing to pay for your home.

Your red walls, for example, could be a big turn off for potential home buyers. Buyers don’t like colorless white bathrooms either. That’s what a recent Zillow Paint Color Study found after researching 32,000 photos of sold homes. They also found that color has the power to increase or decrease your home’s sale price.

Color matters, so we tweaked our color ideas with Zillow stats to provide guidance for picking the perfect color when selling your home.

• White
  White is the perfect color choice when you want a home exterior with universal appeal. Shades of white offer a pure, neutral backdrop that lets your home’s architecture grab a buyer’s attention. A white exterior can make a home appear larger, cleaner, brighter, and more attractive.

  Be cautious when choosing white for indoor spaces. White bathrooms were the single largest negative variable in residential sale outcomes. Homes with white bathrooms sold for $4,035 less than anticipated. Also, eggshell, off-white, and other white wall tones are the color of choice for apartment interiors. They may remind potential buyers of the renter’s lifestyle they’re trying to leave behind.

• Blue
  Blue is primary and basic. As a child, whether you had the eight crayon pack or the 64, blue was a favorite. Everyone has a long history with the color blue. Perhaps that’s why blue in its various shades is relaxing and soothing. When you’re selling your home, blue in any room–except the living room–encourages buyers to pay more.

  Bathroom: Blue bathrooms ranging from light powder blue to periwinkle increased home sale prices by an average of $5,440.
  Bedrooms: Soothing blues, from light cerulean to cadet, are perfect for bedrooms where peace and relaxation is a must. Homes with blue bedrooms brought $1,856 more than anticipated.
  Dining Room: Blue is also a favorite in the dining room. Shades of slate blue, pale gray-blue, navy blue and others increased home prices by an average of $1,926.
  Kitchen: Light blue and soft blue-gray increase average kitchen prices.
  Front Door: Buyers find blue front doors so inviting they increased home prices by an average of $1,514.

• Greige
  So you’ve never heard of greige? That’s what you get when you blend shades of gray and beige. Greige makes a lasting impression on home buyers. Home exteriors painted in this hybrid color sold for $3,469 more than similar homes with brown-dominant shades, such as medium brown or stucco.
• Brown
  Shades of brown are earthy and warm. They will always be popular with some buyers, but be careful where you use them. Brown can be a turn off when used in the wrong place.

  Living Rooms: Brown-toned colors like light beige, pale taupe, and oatmeal increased home sale prices by $1,809.
  Exteriors: Homes exteriors painted medium brown, taupe, or stucco sold for an average of $1,970 less than anticipated.

Color Uh-Ohs
Even if you used these colors only sparingly, they can cause problems.

• Yellow: Straw yellow to marigold in kitchens reduced home prices by an average of $820.
• Pink: Light pinks to antique rose, customarily in children’s rooms, reduced home prices an average of $208.

Neil Gortler

Laffey Real Estate

CBR, SRES - Licensed Real Estate Salesperson
Phone: 516.849.5895 | [email protected] 

As an experienced professional Neil will do the leg work, keeping you up-to-date with new listings and the various market conditions that may impact the home purchase process. Sellers can also benefit from his skills in finance, negotiation, contractual agreements, and RE marketing. Call today and allow Neil to guide you through the complexities of buying or selling your home, eliminating hassles, and stress. 

Member of: 
National Association of Realtors
Long Island Board of Realtors
Multiple listing service of long Island
New York State Association of Realtors