You may have heard that homes are selling faster than a Britney Spears CD in the 90s. You may have also heard that buyers need to offer tens of thousands of dollars over the asking price in order to win a bidding war.
For the most part, you’d be right.
But not every home is going to sell that way. Not every home has multiple offers and a bidding war. Some homes sell without sensation and a much smaller profit.
Despite the hotter than hades real estate market, your home won’t elicit a bidding war and mega-profits unless it feels desirable to multiple buyers. The good news is there are some easy things you can do to make your property very appealing to potential buyers, the easiest and cheapest of which is to update the colors of your home.
If you want to get the absolute best price for your home, there are certain colors that will net you a big, fat profit on the sale of your home.
Here’s what you could get with a little paint:
For $6,000 more:
Paint your front door black. No, we are not kidding. Zillow analyzed more than 135,000 photos to determine what colors in different areas of the home would help sell a home for more money. A sophisticated, black front door was the winner. You can paint your front door for less than $20 and add $6,000 to the sale price of your home. That’s a fantastic return on your time and money.
For $2,786 more:
Paint your bathroom a light blue hue. Bathrooms with a grayish blue hue added almost $3,000 more in value than bathrooms of another color.
For $2,793 more:
Paint your living room in a light taupe color. Taupe, a warm tan color with peach undertones, brought home sellers another $3K in value to their homes.
For $1547 more:
Mix up the colors on your cabinets. White cabinets with a black island fetch over $1,500 more than their counterparts.
Conversely, certain colors will net a seller less money on the sales price. Here’s what to watch out for:
For $3,408 less:
Paint your home yellow. While it may feel like a cheery color, it can also appear dingy and outdated. And while it comes down to preference, the numbers say buyers aren’t rushing to buy this color. Yellow on the exterior of the home brought in $3,408 less than similar homes in another color.
For $2310 less:
Paint your kitchen red. While red is associated with an increased appetite, it’s also not preferred by buyers. If you have a red kitchen and paint it another color, you’re likely going to increase your sales price.
For $1684 less:
Paint your dining room brown. Brown colors in shades like oat and sandy brown will decrease your earnings when it comes to your dining room.
