Real Estate and Walls

How important are the walls of a property?  One of the most important aspects of a home is the condition.  If the home is clean, there should be no problem getting fair market value for the home.  If the home is less than Q-tip clean, the buyers may be thinking about offering less than the list price. 

I always tell my sellers, "the average man can go through a house in less than two minutes, the average woman will go through even faster if the house is not clean."  Cleanliness is one of the most important factors when selling a home.

If there are weeds near the front door the buyers may already be reducing the price in their heads.  First impressions are lasting.

Another important factor is colors.  Rooms with dark colors may not be as appealing to some buyers.  Dark reds and blues are the hardest to sell.  If all the walls in a room are painted with a dark color you may want to consider painting the walls a lighter shade before showing the home.  If only one wall in a room has a dark color a good agent will suggest something like sponge or rag painting to lighten the wall up.  This will tend to get the creative juices flowing in a buyer's mind. 

When painting over dark red walls consider talking to a professional.  Most retail stores will be able to give you some advise.   You may want to consider a neutral tan or light brown color.  Many reds will bleed through paint that is applied over them.  White is usually out of the question.  You will wind up with an irregular pink color. 

Wall paper is another obstacle.  How many buyers will have the same taste for decorating as the seller?  Wall paper removal is time consuming and can be expensive to deal with.  It can cost over $200 to remove wall paper from an average 12 x 12 room. 

Most buyers will want to decorate.  Painting and flooring are two of the areas most buyers are already prepared to change once they make a purchase.  Even though buyers are going to change the walls and floors you will have to make certain these areas are clean.  If they appear to need cleaning or additional work buyers will most likely want a reduction in price.  Time spent in these areas will help to increase the value of your home.

Make sure you wash around light switches and on doors near the handles, especially kitchen cabinets.  TSP is a good cleaner for cutting grease in the kitchen.  Use a little paintable caulk to fill in nail holes on walls.  You can buy a small resealable tube.  Clean the windows, blinds and light fixtures.  Make certain the doors make the best impression, these are the first things buyers will see.

Clean up the gardens and mow the grass.  Add a little air freshener.  You can use a pine cleaner to give the house that just cleaned smell.  If you do use an air freshener, evergreen and cinnamon are highly recommended.  They remind people of better times.  Go over the details and make the house a home the next owner will be proud of.  On that note, remember that when buyers are excited they like to bring over the relatives to show what they had just purchased.  The lesson is, selling a home should be like having the relatives over.  You want to leave them with your best impression.

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