Cost and Hiring

How Much Does Interior Paint Increase Home Value?

A for sale sign outside a freshly painted home
Old paint is one of the first things a buyer holds against a house.

Adding a fresh coat of paint is one of the most convenient and easiest ways you can boost the value of your home, especially if you are planning to resell it at any moment. Repainting your home is listed as one of the most common home improvements that will increase property value.

Property value is an important aspect of any mortgage deal. Every consideration to maintain or increase it will contribute to a property owner’s ROI. Many people who are looking for property to purchase are willing to shell out the extra cost for home improvements, including applying new paint.

You can update any room in the house with a fresh coat of paint at an affordable price. Painting is a cheaper alternative to costly transformations in home improvement projects. So, if you’re thinking of what to do to impress potential buyers, we’ll walk you through how interior painting increases home value.

How Much Does New Interior Painting Increase Home Value?

Painting is one of the best ways you can affordably increase the curb appeal of the interior and exterior of your house. It is an important thing to consider when you are selecting home improvements that will add value to your house.

Many experts agree that a fresh paint job can be helpful in increasing home value without having to spend too much. Many buyers are willing to spend extra on new paint because the old paint is a major turn-off for them.

The National Association of Realtors reported in 2019 that 66% of real estate professionals agreed that if you want to increase the curb appeal of your home’s exterior, you should apply new paint. It is suggested that it should be done before you place your house for listing.

A for sale sign outside a freshly painted home

How does paint increase home value?

Paint can say a lot about your house. Faded, chipped or peeling paint, can send a message that your house is not being maintained well. It can inadvertently influence potential buyers on what they think about your house even before they decide to check out the interior.

So, if you want to impress potential buyers and make a good first impression, on-site or online, a fresh coat of paint can do miracles. Remember that curb appeal is essential to the selling potential of your property and can greatly affect the price and how much your potential buyers are willing to pay.

If the curb appeal of your house is great online, most likely, your potential buyers will be willing to schedule an in-person visit. This will lead to more competitive offers.

The significant ROI you can expect from a fresh coat of paint on your home’s interior and exterior is an average $4,000 increase in your home’s value. This means a 107% ROI for new interior painting and a 55% ROI for exterior painting.

What to Consider for a New Paint Job

A painter cutting in along the ceiling line of an interior wall

Adding a new splash of paint is not an easy job, especially when you are considering painting both the interior and exterior of your house. There are several factors that need to be considered to make sure that you are getting the best deal and are not spending more than you should.

Here are some factors you will need to think about to make sure that you are indeed saving money by applying fresh new paint to your house to increase its value:

  1. Cost of labor
  2. Supplies available in your area
  3. Quality of competing listings
  4. The size of your home
  5. How much of your home needs paint
  6. Whether you choose to DIY or hire professional house painters

It is important to note what Brian Carlson of Hillsboro, an Oregon-based Windermere Real Estate company said about how applying fresh paint to your house can affect not only the monetary value of your house

“A freshly-painted home is likely to draw more attention and sell faster than one still sporting paint circa 1999. Curb appeal is real.”

This makes it clear that even if you don’t spend a lot on home improvements that cost more than applying fresh paint, you are giving your house a makeover that will surely pay off financially and in other ways.

Tips on Repainting Your House To Increase Its Value

The best schedule for repainting your house is every 7-8 years. You can repaint less or more than that, depending on whether you have kids that may damage walls or pets that will scratch them up! You will need to assess your existing paint every year and plan ahead of listing your home.

Neutral paint color swatches laid out for choosing
Here are some useful tips on repainting the interior of your house to help increase your home’s value:

  • Stick with neutral colors like white, off-white, beige, tan, gray, taupe, and light gray.
  • Make use of color theory to bring certain shades to different rooms.
  • Use relaxing and calming colors for rooms where you want to unwind.

Check room-by-room color recommendations online or from paint companies. Check out our design center for color tips.

When you plan on painting the exterior of your house, consider these tips:

  • Hire professional house painters who have the right equipment, tools and experience for painting hard-to-reach spaces
  • Follow the three-color rule:
    • 60% should be one color (usually the body)
    • 30% should be another color (usually the garage and trim)
    • 10% should have a third color (accents such as doors, windows and shutters)
    • Houses with dark-colored doors sell $2,671 more on average than other houses

Add Value On a Budget with Fresh Paint

Make a significant change to the value of your house with a splash of new paint on the interior and exterior of your house.

Whether you are planning a retouch because you want a fresh feel inside and outside your home or to prepare your house for listing, a coat of new paint will definitely increase the value of your home.

If you are preparing a house to sell, our guide to the best paint colors for staging and selling covers the color side, and our interior painting page explains how we work.

Frequently asked questions

Does interior painting increase home value?

It is consistently listed among the home improvements most likely to increase property value, and it does so for far less than a structural change. Buyers are often willing to pay more for a freshly painted home, because dated or worn paint is a common deal-breaker.

Is painting worth it before selling?

Usually yes. It is one of the cheapest changes you can make relative to its effect on how a home shows, and it addresses one of the most common buyer objections directly rather than hoping they overlook it.

Which rooms benefit most from repainting before a sale?

The ones buyers spend the longest in and photograph most: kitchens, living areas and primary bedrooms. Any room where the paint is visibly worn or a strongly personal color is also worth neutralizing.

Should I choose neutral colors before listing?

Generally yes. A neutral palette lets a buyer imagine their own things in the space rather than reacting to yours, which is the whole job paint is doing during a sale.

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