Save My Home from WHITE!

[Bonnie Lowe]

I'm selling my home. You can read about it on my blog. This isn't really a plug for the house, though... I'd put this post in the free classifieds area if it was. But then again, maybe that's where this should be. I'll let Lynn decide.

What'd I'd really like is your opinion on something...

The real estate market sucks right now, especially for sellers. My house has been on the market for 4 months with no offers. (Yes, we have lowered the price... it's priced below most comp's.)

My Realtor is suggesting that we repaint the interior walls... all WHITE.

I have nothing against white. I just think white walls in a house are boring.

The first thing I did when my hubby and I bought that house was paint all the WHITE walls with COLOR. We didn't go crazy. We picked really nice colors (IMO). The living room is light yellow ("Butter Cookie"); the family room is "Malt" on 3 walls and "Manzanita" on an accent wall. The master suite is "Terracotta Pot." That's probably the "wildest" color. The other 3 bedrooms are light blue.

The walls do not need painting for the sake of painting... they are in fine shape (painted only 4 years ago, and we touched up all the spots where pictures had hung). But the Realtor says painting all the walls white (making them "neutral") will help sell the house.

I do realize that not everyone shares my tastes in wall colors. But if you're looking to spend more than 400 grand on a house, would you NOT buy it just because you don't like the color of a wall or two?

And would ALL WHITE WALLS be more--or less--appealing to you, personally?

I think the Realtor is grasping at straws. If the walls were white, he'd probably say "add some color!" But I could be wrong, so please let me know what y'all think... in general. I realize you can't tell me if the colors are good, because I can't show them to you.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated! And if you do happen to need a house in Vacaville... you know where to find me.

Thanks!

[robert adams]

The idea is to appeal to the largest number of buyers.

If the walls are white, then the prospective buyer can look at it and not see colors that they don't like.

They may or may not think about painting the walls once they buy it.

But some buyers might look at your terracotta Pot bedroom, and start feeling sick. Guess what, there goes the sale.

You should also remove as much of your personal things like paintings, photographs, nick-nacks, etc. as you can.

Leave open shelves, blank walls.... give the buyer the chance to visualize their stuff in your house.

Don't dispair, my house has been on the market here in a suburb of Dallas, Tx. for over 2 years.

Prices are much cheaper here than in California, but we decided to sell just when the bottom fell out of the market here.

good luck,
robert

[Jim Guinn]

White reflects the light best, makes rooms look their largest and helps your house look clean, fresh and airy. White also can be used as a base for a buyer to project "their" color much more easily in their "mind's eye". One last thing, white allows key architectural features to stand out even more.

[Bonnie Lowe]

Thanks Robert and Jim for your replies.

You could probably tell I was having a hard time thinking about this without letting my own personal feelings get in the way.

You both make good points, and I appreciate really your insights!

[Maggie]

Hi, Bonnie - having watched quite a lot of the fixer-up property programs on television, I have to agree that keeping the decor neutral and the personal clutter out of the way is recommended by most of the experts, along with getting rid of evidence of pets and dressing the rooms to impress when you show buyers around.

The final thing which most of them emphasise is standing on the other side of the road, taking a long hard look at the house, and improving the "curb appeal".

Once when I was selling a property, I decided that I would ask the estate agent for some extra property detail sheets and I posted them to the Personnel Department of several local large employers in the area - on the off chance that they had someone coming in to work for them who needed somewhere to live. I don't know whether it was that, but shortly afterwards I did sell the property.

Best wishes - hope you get the house sold soon.

Margaret

[Bonnie Lowe]

Thanks, Maggie!

The house is actually vacant now... all our stuff has already been moved to our new place. So there's absolutely no clutter!

I occasionally watch shows on HGTV. One of them (not about selling a house) convinced me to cover my white walls with color! We enjoyed those colors while we lived there, but I agree neutral is the way to go when selling. The "Terracotta Pot" color in the MBR and the "Manzanita" (a delicious cherry-chocolate color) accent wall in the family room are definitely NOT neutral.

The house we just bought has beige (tan?) walls throughout, and everyone who has come by has said they love that color. (I never thought I'd actually like BEIGE walls, but they do actually look nice with the white trim and baseboards!)

Anyway, I appreciate your feedback! I guess I know what I'm gonna be doing this long Labor Day weekend!

[Maggie]

Hi, Bonnie - I didn't realise that the house is empty. I think that might make it a little harder to sell - although easier when you're wielding the paint brush!

On the other hand, it might give you a free hand to "stage set" so that the impression of uncluttered, elegant home is portrayed to prospective purchasers.

Best wishes
Margaret

[Home_Based_Mom]

JMHO here, but you are paying that agent megabucks to sell the house.

The agent isn't going to see even one dollar until the house sells and closes escrow.

The agent not only has experience and knowledge about what makes homes sell, but has incentive to make the house sell ASAP in order to get paid.

I vote to follow the agent's advice (the advice you are paying for) and paint the walls white, no matter what you think of white walls.

Sandi

[susan]

[Bonnie Lowe]

Hi Sandi,

One of the reasons I questioned this Agent's advice is because his wife disagreed with it -- and she's been selling real estate about twice as long as he has.

And also because I was present at the beginning of one Open House, and overheard a response to the Agent's question, "What did you think?" after they'd looked around. Their response was, "It's gorgeous! But we can't afford it." (So why were they looking at it?)

But I've decided the "designer colors" have to go bye-bye. Neutrality seems to be the way to go (it works for Switzerland!).

Susan, I totally agree with you. And thanks for the good wishes. The house has been on the market since April.

Unless we get an offer by tomorrow (Saturday), I think we'll be spending Sunday and Labor Day laboring with painting!

Thanks all for your feedback!

[Viviane]

[iceforever.diamonds]

well ,maybe what the realtor meant was that if you painted the walls white then maybe buyers will be excited with imagining what color will fit their taste then maybe at that point they will be interested in buying the house... and for good reason with white your buyers will have a good vision of the house's different angles...

thanks...

[Changing Lives]

Did you ever sell your house? I live in a subdivision outside of Atlanta. There are 237 homes and we each have about 2/3 an acre most of it wooded in the back. We have a very depressed housing market with some of the homes sitting for 12 months! One neighbor decided to not listen to painting everything white. Her DR was ruby red. Get the picture? She sold her house within 3 months. The EXACT same houses of which there are 4 all painted the inside white and they are still sitting. Our neighbors on the other side were moving back to the UK and they did not repaint either. They sold within 4 months. Interesting.

The average age of the houses here are 8 years old, 3 story and brick. The only difference so far has been interior color. All house are empty. We are putting our house on the market in the spring and just had our house professionally painted a very delicate smokey blue/white and we are not repainting.

Most of us do watch HGTV but I don't think every market is the same. My realtor said she'd rather sell a house with color-not wild-then contractor white.

Good Luck!

[Bonnie Lowe]

[Lynn Terry]

Congratulations, Bonnie