Looking to sell a home in Seattle’s competitive real estate market? Consider repainting its rooms

Aerial view of houses in Seattle's Queen Anne  neighborhood.

Aerial view of houses in Seattle’s Queen Anne  neighborhood.

fotoVoyager/Getty Images/iStockphoto

If you’re trying to sell a home in Seattle’s highly competitive real estate market but don’t feel like undertaking major renovations, here’s a tip: consider repainting a room or two.

A new study from Zillow suggests that what color you paint a room could attract more potential buyers and could even increase the sale price by a few thousand dollars.

Zillow asked roughly 1,300 recent or prospective homebuyers their thoughts on interior colors, and found that certain colors in certain rooms made a substantial impression on buyers.

“Our study found homebuyers may be particularly sensitive to paint color, despite paint being a relatively easy and inexpensive change, because they’re navigating a complex environment with a lot of uncertainty,” Kate Rogers, a behavioral scientist at Zillow, said in a news release. “When study participants thought the homeowner had similar tastes to them, they perceived the home more positively and were also more likely to make a higher offer on the home.”

Zillow asked respondents how likely they were to tour or buy a home when a particular color was used to paint the bathroom, kitchen, living room or primary bedroom. If they said they were interested in buying a home that had a room painted that color, Zillow then asked them how much they’d be willing to pay for the home.

The most popular combination was the use of pale sky blue in the bathroom. On average, respondents said they more likely to tour homes with pale sky blue bathrooms and were even willing to pay 1.6% more for a house with a bathroom painted that color. Price premiums were calculated using the typical U.S. home value of $290,000, which means, on average, respondents were willing to pay about $5,000 more for a home with a bathroom painted pale sky blue.

A bathroom painted pale sky blue

A bathroom painted pale sky blue

Behr

For the remaining rooms — the kitchen, living room and primary bedroom — respondents most favored white, grey and dark blue, respectively. The study said respondents were more likely to tour and pay more for houses that used those colors in those rooms.

Across the board, respondents reported less favorable opinions on bright hues like mint green, fire-hydrant red and sunshine yellow.

“Overall, neutral tones tend to have a more positive effect on both purchase intent and prices,” the study said.

A kitchen painted white

A kitchen painted white

Behr

The takeaway for sellers? Repainting rooms is an easy and cost-effective way to make your home more attractive to prospective buyers.

“Sellers typically tackle two home improvement projects before listing their home for sale, and interior painting is one of the most common and impactful projects sellers take on,” Amanda Pendleton, Zillow’s home trends expert, said in the release. “Homeowners who are preparing to list their home for sale can be strategic about the paint colors they select to get the most bang for their buck. Interior painting averages $385 per room, but the right colors can pay for themselves.”