A fresh coat of paint can help sell your home

Posted Wednesday, February 13, 2008

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“If you are contemplating selling your home, consider sprucing it up with a fresh coat of paint before putting up the “For Sale” sign, Debbie Zimmer of the Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute explains. “This relatively inexpensive investment can enhance your home’s curb appeal to prospective buyers.”

An attractive quality paint job imparts the kind of well-maintained appearance to a home that gives it a distinct selling advantage. As a result, when selling your home, repainting is really more like an investment than an expense.

Whether you choose to hire a paint contractor, or do it yourself it is crucial to use a high quality paint. Zimmer offers these tips to help prepare your home for sale.

• Use a top quality 100% acrylic latex paint
A recently applied, high quality acrylic latex paint can last 10 years or more and translates into many years of freedom from maintenance for prospective buyers.

• Be conservative when selecting an exterior color
White and neutral colors are often the safest choices, since they will appeal to the greatest number of prospective buyers. When painting for a potential sale, it is often not the time to have the most striking paint scheme in the neighborhood.

• Include quality surface preparation in the work
Properly preparing the surface for painting will produce the best appearance, and add to the life-expectancy of the paint job.

• Finish painting before putting the home on the market
A completed and attractive paint job will assist with that critical first impression as potential buyers consider and view your home.

So, if you are thinking about selling your home, don’t throw away your paint brush. Picking it up may be the best thing you can do.