San Antonio Homeowner’s Guide: How to Tell If You Should Repaint Your House Before Selling It

When it comes time to sell your San Antonio home, it can be a lot to take on, from to-do lists to hiring a real estate agent and contractors —  that is if you need to make repairs on your home. San Antonio top real estate agents can help you determine if you need to paint your home by assessing where your home stands in comparison to others on the market. Before you even hire a real estate agent, it can be helpful to understand the signs that you need to repaint and the options that you have for your home’s interior and exterior. 

Signs your exterior needs some TLC

If your home was recently repainted, then you can likely skip repainting the exterior when selling your home. However, there are some sure signs that you’ll want to hire painters to give the outside of your home a refresh. If there’s water damage, extensive sun fading, or mold or mildew that doesn’t clean up after a strong power-washing, then it may be time for an update. Peeling paint is a problem to remedy, and, even if your home’s paint is in great shape, if the color is outdated (and your real estate agent can advise you about color trends in your neighborhood), then it’s time to get a fresh start. While painting your home will be a major expense — especially if you hire a professional with strong references —chances are you can recoup some of the costs at sale time. 

Budget painting options

There’s likely no way around fixing an exterior paint job that looks drab and outdated, but if your home’s exterior is still in relatively good shape, there are ways to update minimally and still make an impact. Painting your front door, your mailbox, or your garage door can add some extra polish to your home’s exterior. Updated house numbers and replacing light fixtures can also update without breaking the bank. Picking a bold color for your front door in yellow, red, or blue, will contribute to what real estate agents call curb appeal — how the outside of your home attracts potential buyers and makes it competitive in the housing market. 

Kitchens, bathrooms, and everywhere else

Painting the inside of your home is a smaller project (depending on how big your home is), than focusing on the interior. It’s also more likely that the inside of your home needs a fresh coat of paint when it comes time to sell. When you are selling a home, you’ll need to do what agents call staging, and that is creating a welcoming space which will appeal to the widest pool of homeowners. To do that, it’s best to pick a neutral color for the living room, kitchen, and bathrooms, and to repaint them all at once. While it might be tempting to take a DIY approach, hiring a professional is the best way to ensure that you’ll have a uniform job with high-quality paint. 

Selling that San Antonio home will most likely require some painting projects, but you may be able to focus on the interior areas and skip the exterior, depending on the state of your home.