The Top Siding Colors for Resale Value
The exterior of a home plays a huge part in the interest of potential buyers. The exterior is usually the first thing potential buyers see, and the color of the exterior can play a big part in driving their emotions.
So, how does the siding or exterior color of your home affect its resale value? What types of colors offer the best resale value and make buyers more likely to buy your home? What colors should you stay away from?
The Importance of Curb Appeal
If you’re planning on putting your home on the market, don’t underestimate the importance of your home’s curb appeal. Everything from the landscaping to the front door to the siding contributes to the first impression for home buyers.
As soon as they pull up in front of your home, they’ll get either a positive, negative, or neutral reaction. If they have a negative first impression, it would take a lot more to change that impression. Many home buyers don’t realize this, but the look of the outside of a potential home is high on their list.
When a potential home buyer has a positive first impression, they’re more likely to buy. When you can make them feel great as soon as the tour begins, that feeling is likely to stay with them the entire time.
A strong curb appeal will also make your home competitive with others in the market. Many home buyers will look at potential homes online before they see them in person. Seeing a beautiful exterior will make them more likely to check out your home in the first place.
How Does Siding Color Effect Resale Value
The color of your home’s exterior plays a big part in its curb appeal. With a strong curb appeal, you can list your home at a higher asking price. Your home’s exterior will grab potential buyers’ attention and encourage them to view the listing. The wrong color could push them away before they see the interior.
So, the color you choose is important. But how does the color add or take away from your home’s value?
When you’re looking for the right color for your home’s exterior, you have to take a few factors into consideration:
- Architectural style: The color you choose should match the style of your home. Some home styles have expected colors. A coastal beach house would look great with a pop of color, like blue or green. But you wouldn’t paint a colonial those colors.
- The vibe of the neighborhood: If you live in an eccentric neighborhood, you could paint your home a more unique color. But, if you’re surrounded by more traditional or conservative home designs, it wouldn’t be as acceptable to paint your home a color that would make it stand out.
- Demographic: While a region with younger residents might like modern, chic homes with grey tones and a clean aesthetic, this color scheme might not appeal to a retirement community. Research the types of homes that are selling in your area and match those color palettes.
- Homeowners Association requirements: If your neighborhood has a homeowners association, they might have restrictions on how your home looks. Be sure to follow those requirements if you’re changing the color of your home’s exterior.
- Psychology: Certain colors cause people to gravitate toward purchasing a home. Browns evoke a sense of security while whites, grays and tans offer a sense of shelter.
These aren’t rules per se, but ignoring them could cause your home to be valued lower than you want. Your home should reflect your own tastes, style and preferences, but it’s important to keep these in mind if you’ll be putting your home on the market. Home sellers often don’t realize that a home may look attractive to them based on personal taste, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that it has a high possibility of resonating with buyers as they scroll through potential options.
The Best Siding Colors for Resale Value
While you can choose to paint your home any color, some are better than others when it comes to resale value. You may love your home with purple siding and orange trim, but potential buyers may not feel the same way.
There are several siding colors that offer the best resale value for your home, including light neutrals, blues, grays, light browns, white, neutral greens and tans and earth tones.
Blues
Blue is the most popular color in most of the world, making it a reliable choice for resale value. It matches well with white trim, red brick and earthy tones. A blue home with a wood front door and hardwood decking can make a fantastic combination.
The best shades of blue are on both ends of the color. Deep blues add a gorgeous hue to your home and lighter blues look great on some styles of homes. You can also use blue as an accent color.
Grays
You can never go wrong with any shade of gray. It looks great with almost any architectural style and can be used with any other color, too. Mid grays are an excellent choice with brown, stone or brick accents. Gray is the most versatile neutral color that allows home buyers to imagine adding their favorite accents and décor to a home.
Light Browns
Brown is a wonderful selection for home resale value — many buyers will love it, and even if they don’t, it’s easy to work with. Real stone, mahogany and white trim are also ideal complements to the brown-themed homes. Some darker browns can give a boring look to your home, but a light brown, taupe, or beige adds a soft, inviting feel to your home.
You can use brown in combination with any other neutral for an earthy, inviting palette.
White
White is one of the safest siding colors for resale values since it’s neutral, matches with any accent pieces and complements most buyers’ tastes. Stone, brick and stained accents also contrast well with white. Black trim is another popular choice to create a rich contrast in modern homes. An off-white or wheat color is a better pick than pure-white for your home’s exterior. Light neutrals are a great pick because they go great with other darker neutrals and other colors to give details to your home’s exterior.
Neutral Greens
Green is an outstanding color for home siding, but it’s important to mute it with a neutral tone, such as a gray-green. It’s best to save brighter colors for accent features like the front door or trim since overwhelming shades of green may turn away homebuyers.
Tans and Earth Tones
Tans and earth tones are excellent colors that bring a touch of nature to your home and blend well with stone and brick structures like columns or smokestacks. These also match well with black or white trim for added definition.
Siding Colors to Avoid
The siding colors to stay away from are the ones that will make your home look garish and out of place. It’s key to choose a color that has mass appeal. A home buyer may scroll past your listing quickly on an online real estate website. If your home is a shocking color, it may cause them to simply keep scrolling without ever viewing the interior.
Generally, poor siding color choices that hurt resale value the most lack a sense of broad appeal and are highly location and preference specific. If resale value is a concern, these are a few shades to avoid when picking a color for your home’s exterior:
- Pastels: Homes with subtle pastels are often popular in warm climates like Key West, Florida, but are generally a turn-off in other regions.
- Black: A black home can have a dark psychological association and attract excessive amounts of heat. Be careful with black paint in warmer climates.
- Purple: Purple is a classic accent color, but it is generally favored by homeowners from highly specific regions.
- Orange: You can apply orange in areas where tropical colors are popular, like Miami beach or New Orleans.
- Bright blue: Even considering the popularity of blue, neon or flashy colors are generally unpopular.
- Pink: Homeowners generally choose pink for personal taste but is very difficult if not impossible to resell.
- Mustard yellow: Yellow is another flashy color that attracts a great deal of attention from passersby. Most North American homeowners want an inviting, safe space, rather than a flashy appearance.
At the end of the day, the color of your home should be something that you love. But remember that you can boost the value of your home during the selling process by painting it the right color. Although bright siding colors can be fun for a unique look that suits your taste, universal neutrals photograph well and can make a striking impression on most buyers. These colors can become a high-risk investment choice when remodeling a home.
Contact Sunshine Contracting to Select a Siding Color
If you’re considering updating the siding of your home before selling or want to install better siding on your new home, Sunshine Contracting has a wide selection of colors to choose from. Contact us today to see how we can help you add to your home’s curb appeal and, as a result, its overall value.
