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There are several decisions to make as you prepare to list your home for sale on the market. One of the most common concerns guiding your decisions is how you can optimize your return on the sale of your home.

One way to make more money on a real estate transaction is to spend less of it. You can reduce your closing costs by moving on a weekday when moving services cost less, negotiating a lower commission rate with your real estate agent and partnering with a reliable virtual law firm like Axess Law legal services, which offers flat rates that don’t include the overhead of a brick-and-mortar law firm and is online so you don’t have to drive around spending time and money to meet with a real estate lawyer.

Another way to boost the selling price of your home is to invest in home improvements. But there is no guarantee that you’ll see a profit or break even on the costs of renovating your home. There are home improvement projects that are generally known to provide a return on your investment, and painting your home is one of them. It’s also one of the least intrusive and cost-effective ways to transform your home’s appearance and make it look new again. You should, however, consult a real estate agent familiar with recently sold and for sale homes in your area so you can make an informed decision.

These are some recommendations for painting your home before putting it up for sale. 

An Exterior Paint Job Can Create Love at First Sight

Curb appeal is a significant factor in how quickly a home sells and the price it sells for. Human nature is such that many of our decisions, including vitally important ones like buying a home, are still mostly based on emotion. All the cliches about how important a first impression is are certainly true in real estate. How your home looks from the outside when a buyer first sees it creates a fundamental impression in their mind on whether they can see themselves living in it – one that can be hard to shake.

To optimize your profits from the sale of your home, take care of your landscaping and consider painting the exterior, especially if you notice the following:

• The current paint is faded or dull.
• Paint that is flaking or peeling.
• Cracked caulk and gaps between siding (painting should only be done after the root cause is treated and the siding has been replaced.)
• Your home sticks out like a sore thumb because the colour is vastly different than the surrounding homes.

If your home doesn’t look well-maintained on the outside, you’ve essentially created the same impression for the inside of your home before a buyer steps foot in it.

Painting the Interior of Your Home

The rule of thumb for interior paint colours when selling a home is to use warm, neutral colours. This creates a blank canvas effect that can enable potential buyers to see their own vision for decorating the home and picturing their current furniture in it. Ultimately this is why homes sell, and why a paint job can be a valuable investment that pays off.