Should you paint before you sell?

A COAT of fresh paint can make all the difference when attracting people to your home.

House

A COAT of fresh paint can make all the difference when attracting people to your home.

Whenever my family pass a property being painted we always think the home is about to be put on the market. This is because many people have their house painted before selling. But why and is it worth it?

First impressions count and having the outside of the house painted gives the building a clean, sparkling look. It makes your property stand out in the street. Even in a block of units. A freshly painted door helps it be noticed.

A revitalised outside can make all the difference when attracting people to your home. A soft wash of the outside will help if the budget won't go to having the property painted. As long as the paint work looks clean the affect will be the same.

Painting inside the building has a different set of rules. Many real estate agents will tell you not to paint because the new owners will want to put their own mark on the property.

There is some truth to this, but if you use pale neutral colours when painting it makes the rooms look larger and gives you and the purchaser the chance to add your own colour to the rooms by way of curtains, paintings and furniture.

Many people just before they put their home on the market have the wood work only painted. Skirting boards, architraves, wooden window frames and doors all collect dust, and if the original paint was a gloss, over years losses its sheen and oxidizes.

The paint can be washed and that will help, but even though the woodwork is clean, if it is a long time since it has been painted it probably wont look as fresh as if it were given a new coat of paint.

Whether you have all the rooms including the walls and the woodwork painted depends on the condition of the previous paint work. Try cleaning marks by rubbing them over with some cream cleanser on a damp sponge. Most times this will work, but if not they will need to be painted.

You can try touching up by using the same colour paint and brushing over offending areas. But a fresh coat of paint would probably look better.

There is another important factor about having your home painted before putting it on the market; the smell. The aroma of fresh paint really does have a good impact on a prospective purchaser.

Julie Finch-Scally is the founder of The Duster Dollies Cleaning Agency and author of The Third Oldest Profession, The A-Z of House Cleaning, Hippo Publishing.