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What color should I paint my house for resale? San Francisco painting tips!

What color should I paint my house for resale? San Francisco painting tips!

Choosing paint colors when selling a house can be difficult. Simply following your own taste in paint colors may not be the best plan. The goal when selling a house is to choose paint schemes that will be appealing to the greatest number of potential buyers. First impressions are very important when your house is being shown or photographed. A beautiful paint job can help to make those first impressions positive ones.

Choose Neutral Colors when Painting to Sell your Home

Generally, it is considered best to choose neutral paint colors when selling a home. Light tans, grays, and blues are popular and likely to appeal to a broad spectrum of buyers. Painting a house in subdued tones is least likely to turn people away. When a house is painted in overly bright or bold colors, that can dominate people’s impression of the house, and make it hard for buyers to imagine the house with their own color choices or furniture. On the other hand, if the home is painted in neutral colors, people can easily envisage their own additions and modifications to make it fit their preferences.

An additional consideration when painting to sell your home is trim color. White is always your best bet, since it will provide a crisp, attractive border to your other colors. Also, white is classic, and will not turn off any potential buyers.

Another reason that neutral paint colors can help to sell a house is that it is that new home buyers can't always have a home repainted immediately after purchasing it. If potential buyers see a home that is painted dark or bold colors that they do not like, and they know it may be some time before they can change the colors, it may make the home less appealing to them. If the home is painted in neutral shades, most people are able to live with those colors for a time before getting the house repainted.

While neutral paint colors for selling your house is generally considered the best choice, there are other factors to consider as well. You will want to choose a look and color scheme that is suited to your unique setting and house. In some areas, or for some types of structures, there may be bolder color schemes that are more desirable. For example, San Fransisco and Oakland have many historic homes that have a distinctive character and charm. Talk with a color expert who can help you choose authentic historical colors for your period home.

When Neutral Colors Might Not Work in San Francisco Homes

If you are considering painting your San Francisco Bay area home before putting it on the market, you may want to consult with a painting company or your real estate agent regarding which paint colors are most popular in your location.

MB JESSEE is a top-notch professional painting contractor serving San Francisco, East Bay, Oakland Hills, Berkeley, Contra Costa, Danville and other nearby communities.

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“Matt, Julie & Ricardo, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank the three of you for the wonderful job you did in hosting the SFBA NARI Chapter Meeting on Wednesday evening. Everything was perfect from beginning to end. Members and guests alike walked away with a truly positive experience. The "painter for a day" and the cookies in the paint cans were an absolute brilliant touch and received rave reviews. What a wonderful way to do such positive marketing. Thanks again for a truly memorable experience for our members and guests. You are valued as a NARI member.”

— Judy Tufo, SFBA NARI Executive Director

“Just wanted to let you know that the crew was great to have around the house for the past two weeks. All three of them were professional, courteous, and attentive to my thoughts/concerns and were extremely knowledgeable. They paid great attention to the detail and it shows.”

— Mark & Roberta Gross

“I highly recommend MB Jesse Painting to anyone looking for a professional team that does an impressive job. They are on time, efficient and clean up well each and every day they are on site. They pay attention to detail and listen to the needs of their clients. In addition, they give back to the community. A Five Star team all the way around.”

— Erin Troy

“Today I received a beautiful bouquet from your company. It was totally unexpected and very much appreciated--a lovely surprise. Also today, your crew finished my job. I am so pleased with all their fine work. Richard is absolutely amazing and a total delight to work with. He was also extremely helpful during the paint color process. The interior work in my home far exceeded my expectations. A big thank you to you and the crew for an outstanding job. Thank you, thank you for a terrific job!”

— Barbara
Piedmont

“Matt, We are very happy with how all of the painting worked out. We were extremely impressed with the quality of the work in the bathroom. I liked working with Victor, he and Marvin were extremely conscientious about doing a great job, not just the minimum. I know the front door took a lot longer than you'd expected. But they did it PERFECTLY. We never thought it could turn out like that! Thanks again for the great work. We'll be calling you again in the future!”

— Craig
Alameda, CA

“Very easy to work with, they did an outstanding job with our project of re-painting our painting our kitchen cabinets. Given the scope of the job and that our kitchen is roughly half of our upstairs living area they did a fantastic job of minimizing the mess. Workmanship was top notch, would definitely recommend.”

— Vince Scola

“I loved working with M.B. Jessee from start to finish on a relatively small paint job that grew a bit. I felt in very good hands from the moment Matt Jessee came out to give me the estimate and talk about my job. He was very easy to talk to and he handled my changes very well. Then the actual work done by Rigoberto and Mario was impeccable. They were neat and meticulous and the paint job looks beautiful. I could not have asked for more and when I did, they accommodated me 100%. I will not hesitate to call M.B. Jessee again and to refer them to friends.”

— Nancy Kurkjian

“MB Jessee just finished our exterior and we couldn't be happier with our experience. The foreman (Pedro) and lead painter (Ricardo) were incredible to work with: they communicated scheduling clearly, Ricardo was a joy to be around every day, the showed up early every day, were incredibly tidy and did great paint work. The final walkthrough experience was incredible. Pedro pointed out items I missed demonstrating a clear desire to complete another quality project. I highly recommend them. As others have noted they definitely aren't the cheapest but you quickly realize that you're getting what you pay for. The 3-year guarantee is also a nice touch since there are likely touch-up items that will show up after the job is done.”

— Joshua J.
Oakland, CA

“I can't say enough about how courteous and professional my foreman was. He was on time every morning and arrived cheerful and ready to go. He is highly organized and very thoughtful. He was extremely careful and respectful when moving my belongings - a mature professional.”

— Nora Robinson

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— Margo - Director Women's Cancer Resource Center

“Julie, by the way, I have never been so impressed with the service of a painting job before! It was like magical elves came and painted our walls without us having to do a thing! It looks amazing and just wanted to let you know how happy we are. Thanks”

— Anja
Piedmont

“The entire MB Jessee team is courteous, efficient and professional. From scheduling and estimating to the crew managers and crew, they all did an excellent job on a small (but complicated) two room project in my house. I'm already thinking about getting them scheduled for the next project in the spring.”

— Cari Cheney