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Any realtors here?

Superfly

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I have a question.

My house has darker colors.

This is the color of my office, living room, dining room and kitchen.

living room.jpg

This is the color of my master bedroom.

master bedroom.jpg

The red comes across a smidgen darker in real life than it does here. Not much, but it's not a bright, primary color of red.

The rest of the house is this color:

laundry room.jpg


I am getting three realtors to look at my house before I choose who to list with. I am meeting with my 3rd realtor on Monday.

The first realtor said that I should paint, but if I wanted to wait, to go ahead and do that, and get ideas from buyers, and how they feel about it. She said that I didn't have to paint, if I wanted to offer a paint allowance.

Her paint allowance was $5,000 for a 2,100 sf house.

My second realtor said I should paint immediately. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. She said that if I decided not to paint, that I should offer a paint allowance.

Her paint allowance was anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000.

I have received 2 quotes to paint my house, from two professional painters. Both have quoted me around $1,500 to paint (including paint).

Do realtors get some kind of kick-back from the painters? I am floored at the difference in what they say I should allow, and what it is actually going to cost.
 
I have a question.

My house has darker colors.

This is the color of my office, living room, dining room and kitchen.

View attachment 67249245

This is the color of my master bedroom.

View attachment 67249246

The red comes across a smidgen darker in real life than it does here. Not much, but it's not a bright, primary color of red.

The rest of the house is this color:

View attachment 67249247


I am getting three realtors to look at my house before I choose who to list with. I am meeting with my 3rd realtor on Monday.

The first realtor said that I should paint, but if I wanted to wait, to go ahead and do that, and get ideas from buyers, and how they feel about it. She said that I didn't have to paint, if I wanted to offer a paint allowance.

Her paint allowance was $5,000 for a 2,100 sf house.

My second realtor said I should paint immediately. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. She said that if I decided not to paint, that I should offer a paint allowance.

Her paint allowance was anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000.

I have received 2 quotes to paint my house, from two professional painters. Both have quoted me around $1,500 to paint (including paint).

Do realtors get some kind of kick-back from the painters? I am floored at the difference in what they say I should allow, and what it is actually going to cost.


Old adage. Still true. "You only get one chance at a first impression".

The painting sounds like a pretty good idea. Your current scheme may be what you like but isn't particularly conventional. (go with light pastels....)
 
I have a question.

My house has darker colors.

This is the color of my office, living room, dining room and kitchen.

View attachment 67249245

This is the color of my master bedroom.

View attachment 67249246

The red comes across a smidgen darker in real life than it does here. Not much, but it's not a bright, primary color of red.

The rest of the house is this color:

View attachment 67249247


I am getting three realtors to look at my house before I choose who to list with. I am meeting with my 3rd realtor on Monday.

The first realtor said that I should paint, but if I wanted to wait, to go ahead and do that, and get ideas from buyers, and how they feel about it. She said that I didn't have to paint, if I wanted to offer a paint allowance.

Her paint allowance was $5,000 for a 2,100 sf house.

My second realtor said I should paint immediately. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. She said that if I decided not to paint, that I should offer a paint allowance.

Her paint allowance was anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000.

I have received 2 quotes to paint my house, from two professional painters. Both have quoted me around $1,500 to paint (including paint).

Do realtors get some kind of kick-back from the painters? I am floored at the difference in what they say I should allow, and what it is actually going to cost.

It seems that re-painting the place in lighter (more neutral?) shades for $1500 would net you a tidy (at least $3,500) profit upon sale - just do the re-painting and forget about offering any painting allowance (discount on your asking price).
 
I have a question.

My house has darker colors.

This is the color of my office, living room, dining room and kitchen.

View attachment 67249245

This is the color of my master bedroom.

View attachment 67249246

The red comes across a smidgen darker in real life than it does here. Not much, but it's not a bright, primary color of red.

The rest of the house is this color:

View attachment 67249247


I am getting three realtors to look at my house before I choose who to list with. I am meeting with my 3rd realtor on Monday.

The first realtor said that I should paint, but if I wanted to wait, to go ahead and do that, and get ideas from buyers, and how they feel about it. She said that I didn't have to paint, if I wanted to offer a paint allowance.

Her paint allowance was $5,000 for a 2,100 sf house.

My second realtor said I should paint immediately. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. She said that if I decided not to paint, that I should offer a paint allowance.

Her paint allowance was anywhere from $8,000 to $10,000.

I have received 2 quotes to paint my house, from two professional painters. Both have quoted me around $1,500 to paint (including paint).

Do realtors get some kind of kick-back from the painters? I am floored at the difference in what they say I should allow, and what it is actually going to cost.

I know very little about real estate, but what I have been told by people who do know is that though realtors make more money if they sell the house for more money, they are more interested in selling fast and painting will sell the house faster than a paint allowance.

But take what I say with a grain of salt
 
Old adage. Still true. "You only get one chance at a first impression".

The painting sounds like a pretty good idea. Your current scheme may be what you like but isn't particularly conventional. (go with light pastels....)

True - but do you think that the realtors are getting a kickback?

Isn't it crazy, the difference being so much?

A realtor told me yesterday that she just has a couple of older ladies who come in and paint. She was the one who mentioned the 8 to 10 allowance. For a couple of older ladies who didn't even sound licensed or insured?

Sounded to me like, "I'll pay you $1,000 to paint this house," while she stuffs the rest in her pocket.
 
It seems that re-painting the place in lighter (more neutral?) shades for $1500 would net you a tidy (at least $3,500) profit upon sale - just do the re-painting and forget about offering any painting allowance (discount on your asking price).

:lol: Right? That's what we decided. After getting such ridiculous allowance amounts, we figured we'd just paint it ourselves. Or pay someone to do it for a much smaller amount.
 
I know very little about real estate, but what I have been told by people who do know is that though realtors make more money if they sell the house for more money, they are more interested in selling fast and painting will sell the house faster than a paint allowance.

But take what I say with a grain of salt

Yeah, that's true. I think we are probably going to paint before we list. I mean, it's $1,500, but if it means selling the house faster, I'm all in. And so far, both realtors have said that the paint color is the only thing that will throw people off.
 
True - but do you think that the realtors are getting a kickback?

Isn't it crazy, the difference being so much?

A realtor told me yesterday that she just has a couple of older ladies who come in and paint. She was the one who mentioned the 8 to 10 allowance. For a couple of older ladies who didn't even sound licensed or insured?

Sounded to me like, "I'll pay you $1,000 to paint this house," while she stuffs the rest in her pocket.


Funny you should mention that. ('cept not "funny" ha ha.)

Last July i relocated and needed to sell my house. I had already moved to a new state so the realtor was taking care of things. She "found somebody" to do a deep dive cleaning. Which expanded to power-washing the outside vinyl. Her next recommendation was to paint the entire inside (bizarrely everything a single color). Turned out that person doing all this work was a guy attached to her real estate office. Don't know if there were any kickbacks.

So i switched realtors. Neither one of us had really liked each other.


Still got hosed on the house sale. But in fairness....it was sort of a piece of crap.
 
:lol: Right? That's what we decided. After getting such ridiculous allowance amounts, we figured we'd just paint it ourselves. Or pay someone to do it for a much smaller amount.

That's what I would do.

And trust me, as someone who is currently in the market to buy a house, the paint in the house does matter. I will say though your house is pretty darn tame compared to some of the houses I looked at. I could work with yours.
 
:lol: Right? That's what we decided. After getting such ridiculous allowance amounts, we figured we'd just paint it ourselves. Or pay someone to do it for a much smaller amount.

Decades ago my father was told the same thing (the entire interior needed to be repainted) to get a full-list offer. He and I went dumpster diving at nearby (Duron?) paint factory and came up with a few gallons of a deep yellow and a pale purple. We re-painted the basement walls (upper half yellow and lower half purple) and the realtor freaked out and told us that he would get him a full-list offer if we stopped re-painting.
 
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White, light gray, and light pastels. That color scheme is more "move-in ready" to most people.

Contract with an independent painter. Don't go through a real estate office.

Most people prefer an open floor plan and wood/laminate flooring rather than carpeting.

Kitchens and bathrooms are critical for buyers. Make sure they're both updated and have the bells and whistles.
 
Funny you should mention that. ('cept not "funny" ha ha.)

Last July i relocated and needed to sell my house. I had already moved to a new state so the realtor was taking care of things. She "found somebody" to do a deep dive cleaning. Which expanded to power-washing the outside vinyl. Her next recommendation was to paint the entire inside (bizarrely everything a single color). Turned out that person doing all this work was a guy attached to her real estate office. Don't know if there were any kickbacks.

So i switched realtors. Neither one of us had really liked each other.


Still got hosed on the house sale. But in fairness....it was sort of a piece of crap.

See that's exactly what I was thinking - she was an older lady, maybe 70? And she knew a couple of older ladies who painted?

Nope, nope, nope. That smelled like kick-back all over it.
 
That's what I would do.

And trust me, as someone who is currently in the market to buy a house, the paint in the house does matter. I will say though your house is pretty darn tame compared to some of the houses I looked at. I could work with yours.

Then buy my damn house. :lol: 10 minutes from the beach. If you can deal with neighbors who all have sticks up their asses.
 
Decades ago my father was told the same thing (the entire interior needed to be repainted) to get a full-list offer. He and I went dumpster diving at nearby (Duron?) paint factory and came up with a few gallons of a deep yellow and a pale purple. We re-painted the basement walls (upper half yellow and lower half purple) and the realtor freaked out and told us that he would get him a full-list offer if we stopped re-painting.

:lol: That's awesome.
 
White, light gray, and light pastels. That color scheme is more "move-in ready" to most people.

Contract with an independent painter. Don't go through a real estate office.

Most people prefer an open floor plan and wood/laminate flooring rather than carpeting.

Kitchens and bathrooms are critical for buyers. Make sure they're both updated and have the bells and whistles.

The color I am going to go with is an almond color. It's nice and bright, for those (not me) who like light, bright colors. I don't have wood or laminate flooring. A few months back, we had new carpet installed all on the bottom floor, because we like carpet, and planned on staying. Now we wish we had gone with something else, but that's OK.

Kitchen and bath are both fine - they are pretty. No major bells and whistles, but I did install a $1,000 dishwasher a couple of months ago when we thought we were staying. :lol:

kitchen1.jpg

Thanks!
 
Then buy my damn house. :lol: 10 minutes from the beach. If you can deal with neighbors who all have sticks up their asses.

Based on your kitchen photo I would be interested it's just the kind of open kitchen I am looking for. But I just won't with those kind of neighbors, I can't deal with all that. :mrgreen:
 
Based on your kitchen photo I would be interested it's just the kind of open kitchen I am looking for. But I just won't with those kind of neighbors, I can't deal with all that. :mrgreen:

Yeah, my neighbors suck. All of them. I hate living in a neighborhood. I only moved here because it's where my kids wanted to be when they were younger. Now they regret that we didn't buy a place out in the country, where we could have four wheelers, and piss off the porch.
 
Yeah, my neighbors suck. All of them. I hate living in a neighborhood. I only moved here because it's where my kids wanted to be when they were younger. Now they regret that we didn't buy a place out in the country, where we could have four wheelers, and piss off the porch.

That does suck. Having good neighbors is awesome. That was the hardest part in selling, leaving the neighborhood.

My husband is trying to get me to go that route, out in the country. My daughter and I are both kind of resisting it but I do feel myself opening up to the idea but it would be a hard change. I am used to city living, it's all I know.
 
:lol: Right? That's what we decided. After getting such ridiculous allowance amounts, we figured we'd just paint it ourselves. Or pay someone to do it for a much smaller amount.

The painters you checked with were full time licensed pros using a quality paint? If so I would go with them at their rate. Even double the rate with a larger crew is good. The reason being would be time and doing the prep work, and more importantly the knowledge and possession of all the tools and equipment and materials required to do the job. I dont know about you but I hate painting, or more to the point all the prep work involved. A quote of $1500.00 sounds like a single worker and 2 days. One day prep and 1 day to trim and spray. You have at Home Depot prices about 500 to 750 in materials to paint your interior the right way. Your dark walls are going to need at least 2 coats of paint or a primer and paint. Especially on the ceiling where there may be shade contrasts with a single coat.
 
The painters you checked with were full time licensed pros using a quality paint? If so I would go with them at their rate. Even double the rate with a larger crew is good. The reason being would be time and doing the prep work, and more importantly the knowledge and possession of all the tools and equipment and materials required to do the job. I dont know about you but I hate painting, or more to the point all the prep work involved. A quote of $1500.00 sounds like a single worker and 2 days. One day prep and 1 day to trim and spray. You have at Home Depot prices about 500 to 750 in materials to paint your interior the right way. Your dark walls are going to need at least 2 coats of paint or a primer and paint. Especially on the ceiling where there may be shade contrasts with a single coat.

Yeah, this is one guy, and I am kind of like you. I don't mind painting. I kind of love it. I just ****ing hate prep work. HATE it.

The first quote we got said he is going to use KILLZ as the first layer, so hopefully with that, and a good quality paint, one coat will cover.

*crossing fingers*

His quote covers how many coats we need, but our materials cost will increase. My second quote includes paint and labor.
 
That does suck. Having good neighbors is awesome. That was the hardest part in selling, leaving the neighborhood.

My husband is trying to get me to go that route, out in the country. My daughter and I are both kind of resisting it but I do feel myself opening up to the idea but it would be a hard change. I am used to city living, it's all I know.

Think of country living this way. You have neighbors to chat with and enjoy. But they are far enough away to not annoy you usually.
 
That does suck. Having good neighbors is awesome. That was the hardest part in selling, leaving the neighborhood.

My husband is trying to get me to go that route, out in the country. My daughter and I are both kind of resisting it but I do feel myself opening up to the idea but it would be a hard change. I am used to city living, it's all I know.

Good luck. If you live outside of urban and suburban areas, you won't have as many immediate neighbors. The neighbors can still suck, but they're sucking a quarter of a mile away, which is a huge plus.
 
Think of country living this way. You have neighbors to chat with and enjoy. But they are far enough away to not annoy you usually.

I want people close by though. I don't mind opening my windows and hearing the noises outside but then again I am normally a quiet and peaceful person though so maybe I should try it out, it's just something very different so that's probably what makes me nervous.
 
Good luck. If you live outside of urban and suburban areas, you won't have as many immediate neighbors. The neighbors can still suck, but they're sucking a quarter of a mile away, which is a huge plus.

Yeah, I have always lived in a more urban area so it would be a huge change.

Honestly though, and you might think this is crazy, but I am also apprehensive about the lack of diversity in and around small towns. Where I live it's pretty diverse and I like being around so many different kinds of people. I don't want to be the odd family that's different from everyone else.
 
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