Long Beach/Southern California Real Estate: Colors Make a Difference When Selling a Home

3/05/2024

Colors Make a Difference When Selling a Home

Many times a property owner loves their colors, that deep purple wall in the living room is such a nice contrast to a golden orange kitchen. And in some countries, bright colors or very deep colors are seen as desirable, so sellers need to work at what the buyer sees when viewing their home. The fewer the personal elements, the easier for the buyer to make the house his, or hers. It may be difficult to achieve perfection in staging to sell, but usually paint, at least in the main entry areas and living room, is achievable for most people.

Color definitely has an impact on the feeling a prospective buyer may have about a home. Colors that are a personal reflection of the owner's taste may be seen as an additional expense to paint out for the buyer--and may even be a hurdle to getting an offer. A large house with a strong forest green exterior was one the market in my area for the entire listing period, and never sold, even though an estimate was obtained for the buyer (multi-thousands of dollars to paint out). So the effect of color cannot be underestimated for most buyers, it's either difficult to look past and reimagine the home, and/or it's seen as another expense to fix.

So what do professionals, and agents, recommend? Neutral colors. Warm neutral colors as opposed to cool neutral colors. While certain gray colors are currently often seen in flooring and other interior features, they are usually on the cool side. The owner should strive for a feeling of warmth according to a majority of 71 professionals surveyed.

Exterior colors may have the same effect.

However, in some areas such as Long Beach that have historic districts guiding the exterior home design, darker colors may prevail and be acceptable due to historic considerations. The era of the home can be the owner's guide in many cases.