Pre-Sale Decorating
Decorating Before Selling in Exeter
Getting an Exeter home ready to sell is easier when you know where to start.
This page explains whether decorating is worth it, which marks buyers notice first, and when to finish before photographs.
- Is It Worth Decorating Before Selling a House?
- Which Decorating Defects Will Buyers Notice First?
- How Far Before Photography Should Work Finish?
Exeter Decorators connects people in Exeter with a trusted local decorator. Call 01392 321669 and discuss the next step with the decorator covering Exeter.
Why Choose Us
Why Choose Us
A Ranked Scope
The work starts with the entrance, the hallways and the main rooms, so the job stays in proportion.
Free Site Quote
A trusted local decorator visits the property, and the written quote sets out the rooms, the preparation and the order of work.
Room By Room
You agree how the house is covered and which rooms you can still use before any work starts.
Represented In Exeter
Exeter Decorators connects people in Exeter with a trusted local decorator covering the city.
The Decision
Is It Worth Decorating Before Selling a House?
It is worth it in three situations:
- Buyers would notice marks and damage.
- The rooms photograph badly.
- The paintwork looks uncared for.
A clean, matching interior lets buyers look at the rooms instead of the faults.
That is the whole case, and it does not depend on any promise about your sale price.
The opposite is just as easy to see. These catch the eye at the wrong moment:
- Scuffed skirting boards.
- A stained patch on the ceiling.
- Woodwork in three different whites.
Buyers read visible wear as a sign of how the house has been looked after, and viewings are short.
Nobody can promise a higher price. Your estate agent gives valuation advice, and no decorator controls what a buyer offers.
Decorating controls how the house looks, in photographs and in person.
Selling an empty property after a bereavement? The page on probate house decorating in Exeter covers access, clearing the house and keeping the process controlled.
Visible Defects
Which Decorating Defects Will Buyers Notice First?
Buyers form a first impression on the way in, before they have seen a single bedroom. The faults behind it are easy to predict, so they make a useful to-do list:
- The entrance and front door. Flaking paint on the front door is noticed before anything inside
- Hallways, stairs and landings. Every viewing walks through them, and daily life scuffs them first
- Strong colours and marks. A bold feature wall can work in a lived-in home and still distract in photographs. Scuffs, stains and unfilled holes look like neglect
- Repairs left half done. Half-filled holes, or a repair that stops in the middle of a wall. Buyers notice where the repair stops more than the repair itself
Start here before spending anything on the back rooms.
Worth Painting
Which Rooms Are Worth Painting Before Viewings?
Not every room needs painting. Rank the rooms by how much buyers will see them and how much work they need, and the job gets smaller.
Kitchens, hallways and main living rooms come first. They appear in the most photographs and buyers spend the longest in them. Bathrooms come next if they look tired. Bedrooms come last unless a room is properly damaged.
Comparing quotes for the work? The page on questions to ask before hiring a decorator helps you check that two quotes cover the same job.
Ask Exeter Decorators to arrange a free site quote with a trusted local decorator. Call 01392 321669 to book the visit.
Get My Free Quote
Ask Exeter Decorators to arrange a free site quote for your decorating project in Exeter.
Colour Choices
What Colours Work Best for Sale Photographs?
Light, matching colours photograph best, but no single neutral suits every property.
Keep wall colours in one family across the ground floor, so the rooms flow together in photographs. Use lighter shades in rooms with little daylight. Choose matt or eggshell paint for walls, because gloss reflects camera flash. Paint all the woodwork the same colour.
This is not the time for strong feature walls or fashionable dark colours. You are decorating for a stranger’s first visit, not for your own taste.
Scope Rule
Should You Repair, Touch Up or Repaint?
Three kinds of work cover almost every wall before a sale. Choose by the condition of the whole wall, not the size of the mark.
- Repair. For isolated damage on a wall in good condition: fill it, sand it and repaint the repair. This is the cheapest option
- Touch up. Where the wall is sound but marked, a touch-up can work. Test it somewhere hidden first, because even the same colour can show as a patch on older paint
- Repaint. When part of the wall has aged and the rest has not, repaint the whole wall. A partly repainted wall is the one that shows
Older walls with many layers of paint need extra care. The approach to period surfaces differs from a modern room, and the quote should say so.
Local Picture
What Photographs and Viewings Reveal About Homes in Exeter
Two local facts are background for how you present the house. Neither changes what your own photographs need.
Exeter Plan Draft: Older Homes and Outside Paintwork
Exeter’s draft city plan says conservation areas protect the character and architectural significance of the city’s historic setting. The plan has not been adopted yet. Homes in historic areas can have extra rules for outside paintwork. Check your address with the council before you agree any work on the outside. Only the council can confirm what applies to your property.
Liveable Exeter: New Neighbourhoods
The Liveable Exeter programme names Water Lane, Marsh Barton, East Gate and St Thomas as places for new homes and regeneration. New homes nearby can make a sale feel more competitive. It should not change what you do. Keep the job in proportion: cover the entrance, the hallways and the main rooms, and leave out anything the property does not need.
For a painting and decorating company covering Exeter, Exeter Decorators arranges a free site quote.
Working Backwards
How Far Before Photography Should Work Finish?
Work backwards from the photography date, and leave more time than seems necessary.
1
Last Coat
The final coat of paint goes on. Paint has to do more than dry before the photographer arrives, and most water-based paints feel dry within hours.
2
Drying
Walls need longer before you can wash them, and furniture should stay off fresh paint for a few days.
3
Cleaning
Rooms need airing and floors need cleaning once the paint has had its time.
4
Dressing The Rooms
The rooms are dressed and left alone before the photography date arrives.
5
Photographs
The photographer arrives to the finished rooms. If the gap is too short, do less rather than rush the paint.
A hallway that has only just been painted photographs worse than an older one that is clean.
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Call and discuss the next step with the decorator covering Exeter.
FAQs
Pre-Sale Decorating FAQs
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