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When Home Sellers Love White Walls in Sacramento

By
Real Estate Agent with Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker DRE #00697006

Looking for unicorn buyers is always a bit more tough than appealing to the masses for a Sacramento Realtor. But once you know the sellers' parameters and expectations, you either accept the job or decline. As a Realtor, I generally accept. Even when I suspect it may take longer to sell the house.

Which is the case with the Sacramento remodeled house with white walls. The sellers picked that particular shade of white and love it. It is very sterile looking. Perhaps colorful artwork would help to brighten up the spaces? But I don't think a buyer will walk into that house and exclaim they need to write an offer today because most buyers will want to repaint. Repainting costs money that buyers cannot visualize. I've heard buyers say they think it costs $25,000 to paint the interior so they want that much off of the sales price.

If the condition of the home is not "turnkey" in a buyer's mind, it tends to cost the seller. Buyers do NOT want to paint. It's enough work to buy a house. They just want to move in.

At a point, though, as a Realtor, you have to decide: will you list it or not? Sure. I can predict managing emotions when they don't get the price they want, and it's extra work for me, yet the things to constantly focus upon is it is not my house and not my equity at stake. Sellers are allowed to love their white walls. It's OK.

It doesn't mean that I don't see what they do not. It means I somehow failed to get them to see it. It means they won't like the buyers' / buyer's agent feedback. You can read more in my personal blog today at this link: The Best Colors to Paint the Interior of Your Sacramento Home.

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Elizabeth Weintraub is co-partner of Weintraub & Wallace Team of Top Producing Realtors, an author, home buying expert at The Balance, a Land Park resident, and a veteran real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown, Carmichael and East Sacramento, as well as tract homes in Elk Grove, Natomas, Roseville and Lincoln. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put our combined 80 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at RE/MAX Gold. DRE License # 00697006.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of RE/MAX Gold. Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice; it could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.

Comments(9)

Sheila Anderson
Referral Group Incorporated - East Brunswick, NJ
The Real Estate Whisperer Who Listens 732-715-1133

Good afternoon Elizabeth. It is funny, I can remember a time when anything other than white was a taboo.

Sep 21, 2018 09:30 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

So can I, Sheila. And that's what many people hang on to, those of a certain age. But times have changed dramatically.

However, I think these sellers feel the color white is retro, like black-and-white photography. There is an emotional pull to it.

But just not for buyers.

Sep 21, 2018 09:43 AM
Joan Cox
House to Home, Inc. - Denver Real Estate - 720-231-6373 - Denver, CO
Denver Real Estate - Selling One Home at a Time

Elizabeth, we are seeing buyers enjoying the more colorful homes, but realistically buyers will need to paint, not all walls will be appealing.

Sep 21, 2018 10:33 AM
Chris Ann Cleland
Long and Foster Real Estate - Gainesville, VA
Associate Broker, Bristow, VA

I'm with you on the white walls.  They are not a go to color when selling.  That said, I failed the Zillow quiz.  Might have gotten one or two right.

Sep 21, 2018 04:53 PM
Debb Janes
Nature As Neighbors - Camas, WA
Put My Love of Nature At Work for You

Gray is the new black. Not that black is a good wall color, although, according to the Zillow quiz - it is the best door color. Incidently, I flunked that test - only two right. Argh. I enjoyed the interaction with this post. Although, I don't remember seeing many blue kitchens in the Portland area - wonder where they got their stats? 

Sep 22, 2018 10:26 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Joan Cox In our market today, very unlike our market last spring, I tell sellers to paint colorful walls. Only the BEST homes are selling and if your home is not THE BEST then it either will not sell or buyers will pay much less for it. One of the two.

Sep 22, 2018 11:02 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Chris Ann Cleland I think everybody failed the Zillow quiz. That was probably the purpose. Zillow can say whatever it wants. Somethings can't be analyzed, like how much more a blue kitchen brings. It's all local. In Sacramento, you don't see blue kitchens.

Sep 22, 2018 11:03 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Debb Janes EcoBroker and Bernie Stea JD I think Z pulled stats nationally and compiled them. They don't necessarily apply to local markets. And how did they isolate the kitchens that were painted blue? There is no local field for color of kitchens and wouldn't it have to be done manually? How could a robot see color online?

Sep 22, 2018 11:04 AM
Debbie Reynolds, C21 Platinum Properties
Platinum Properties- (931)771-9070 - Clarksville, TN
The Dedicated Clarksville TN Realtor-(931)320-6730

I am having the interior of my house repainted this week and thankfully the ceilings and trim don't need it.  It will still cost thousands. I am going with a taupy/light gray. 

Sep 23, 2018 05:50 PM