The Australian property market continues to climb, with prices expected to rise another 10% by the end of 2021 (noting a 2.1% jump in February 2021 alone — the largest month-on-month increase in 17 years).
Still, despite it being a great time for sellers, those listing their properties for sale would always be wise to first consider how to increase sale value. Whether it’s making small renovations, positioning indoor plants in the right spots, or tidying up the garden, these small steps can make your home more attractive to buyers and add thousands to your home’s sale price.
Colour plays a vital role too in making your home stand out among buyers, and while one of the most affordable updates you can make in preparation for listing your home, a fresh lick of paint can do wonders for sellers.
“Colour can help differentiate your home from the many other homes on the market,” Andrea Lucena-Orr, Dulux colour and communications manager, tells The Latch. “If we all have white interiors, it can be hard for potential homebuyers to really remember key features between properties.”
Not only that, but a considerately painted home can absolutely add value. “The term ‘turnkey’ is so relevant for many people, where they can just move their furniture in and live. This is not to say that they won’t make changes later, but if the home is really comfortable and liveable immediately it really brings up the home’s appeal.”
Colour psychology
Lucena-Orr cites colour as a way to trigger happy memories and create positive moods within a space. By painting rooms according to the colours that best suit the moods of that zone (ie. calming blue in the bedroom), sellers could see a notable increase in buyer interest.
“Often colour can trigger memory,” she says. “A soft pink wall behind the child’s bedhead or moody dark blue for the entertaining space” can evoke nostalgia and take people back to a certain moment in their lives. “Colour can also help highlight key features in the property too, such as a beautiful open fireplace or fretwork on the exterior.”
But it’s not an invitation to go wild with every shade under the sun; rather an opportunity to create subtle moments of colour.
“Colour is a great tool to really highlight the beautiful features of your home and can help when selling. Whites and Neutrals are the perfect combination when selling a home so you don’t distract potential buyers with distracting colour that may put them off.
“But you also want your home to stand out in the crowd. So ensure create some colour in different spaces of the home to add a different mood and also depict different functional spaces.”
Colour no-nos
Not all colours will be suited to your home — of course, colour is a personal preference and there are never any hard and fast rules, but it pays to consider the masses when it comes to listing your place.
“Try to steer clear of bright and ‘poppy’ colours when selling. Use whites and neutrals as base colours and then add in key highlights in certain areas such as the main bedroom, kids’ bedroom, study or TV room,” says Lucena-Orr.
“These feature colours should be more muted so it doesn’t distract the new potential buyers. You really need to think about what would work with your current décor and highlight areas to focus on key features.”
Lucena-Orr also warns against neglecting the home’s exterior, and she raises an excellent and valid point as to why.
“Spending time on your exterior’s street appeal is so important when selling a home, and paint for the exterior has a huge impact on street appeal. If buyers are just doing drive-bys, they may just keep driving if the paintwork is not up to scratch.”
The front door
Colour experts like Lucena-Orr will sing praises for a front door that makes an impression. As she explains, a stand-out front door is your chance to have a little bit of fun, and the best part? It’s low risk.
“Most buyers won’t see a door colour as a hard task to paint if the colour is not their preferred. However, painting your front door is a great way to trigger colour memory,” she says, adding her suggested shades of “bright red” or “deep blue”.
“It’s something easy for the potential buyers to remember when going through the advantages and disadvantages of the properties they’ve viewed for the day… ‘You know the house that had the blue door!'”.
Anything goes here, but Lucena-Orr does recommend sampling a few shades before going for it with the paintbrush.
“The best advice I can give is it has to be your decision, not your neighbours or your best friends (who don’t live in your home). Select your final colours using Dulux sample pots — that way you will see the most accurate colour.
“Once you’ve painted a test spot, leave your colours on the wall or door for a few days so you can see the colour under both natural daylight and artificial lighting.”
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