If you are selling a Peninsula holiday home, the best painters will tell you not to repaint everything. Presentation painting is about spending money where a buyer forms an impression, which is the front elevation, the entry, the living areas and the deck. A full four bedroom interior repaint rarely returns its cost when a targeted scope would have done the same job.
The second thing the best painters will tell you is to work backwards from the photography date, because the whole exercise is pointless if the images were shot before the paint went on.
Where the money actually shows
Buyers make a judgement in the first thirty seconds from the kerb and the first two minutes inside. Paint spent outside that path is largely invisible in a sale campaign.
- Front elevation and entry: the single highest return, including the front door and letterbox
- Living, kitchen and dining: where the photos are taken and where buyers linger
- Deck and verandah: the coastal selling point, and usually the most neglected surface
- Ceilings: tired ceilings read as a tired house, and they are cheap to freshen
- Trims and door frames: chipped white enamel reads as deferred maintenance everywhere else
What can usually wait: the laundry, the internal garage, the back of the shed, and bedrooms that will be photographed with the door half closed.
Fixing what a building inspection will find
There is a difference between presentation and cover-up, and it matters. Painting over soft timber or rust does not remove either, and a building inspector will find it. Worse, a buyer who finds it after settling has a grievance you did not need.
The best painters repair what is repairable, disclose what is not, and paint honestly. On coastal houses the usual list is window sill rot, weatherboard bottom edges, rusted balustrade fixings and deck boards that have gone past oiling. Any pre-1990 fibro sheeting that is damaged is a job for a licensed asbestos assessor, not a painter with filler.
Neutral, but not beige
Colour selection for sale is a different exercise to colour selection for yourself. You are trying to let a buyer imagine their own furniture in the house, which means warm off-whites and soft greys rather than a personality.
| Surface | Sale-ready approach |
|---|---|
| Walls | Warm off-white or soft grey, low-sheen |
| Ceilings | Flat ceiling white, one shade lighter than walls |
| Trims and doors | Crisp white water-based enamel |
| Front door | One considered accent colour, coastal but restrained |
| Exterior | Match the streetscape, avoid very dark colours in full sun |
The timeline you have to hit
Work backwards from the photography, not from the auction. A typical presentation scope of interiors plus a front elevation takes one to two weeks. Add a day for touch-ups, a day for the cleaner, and a day for the stylist if you are using one.
So photography minus fourteen days is roughly when the painters need to start, and quoting and colour approval need to happen a few weeks before that. For an absentee owner this is entirely manageable remotely: send photographs for an indicative scope, have us inspect and confirm, approve colours by email, and follow the work through dated photo reporting.
What it costs and what it returns
Indicative ranges, subject to a site inspection: three bedroom interior repaint $6,000 to $11,000, four bedroom $12,000 to $20,000, full exterior $6,000 to $15,000, weatherboard exterior $10,000 to $18,000, deck restoration $400 to $3,200. A targeted presentation scope generally comes in well under a full repaint.
A soft wash of the exterior at $260 to $735 is often the highest return item on the whole list, because a house covered in coastal grime photographs badly regardless of what colour it is. Have a look at our recent projects for a sense of what a presentation repaint changes.
SG Coatings is Dulux Accredited, a Master Painters Australia member, female-led under Managing Director Sophie Grover, with around 70 Google reviews at 4.9 stars. If you are preparing a second home for sale from a distance, see our holiday home painting service or get in touch through the contact page with your photography date.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I repaint the whole house before selling a holiday home?
Usually not. A targeted scope covering the front elevation, entry, living areas, deck and trims delivers most of the presentation benefit at a fraction of the cost. Laundries, garages and secondary bedrooms rarely change a buyer’s impression, and money spent there seldom shows up in the sale price.
How far before the photography should painting finish?
Allow at least three days: one for touch-ups and rubbish removal, one for a full clean, and one for styling. Work backwards from there, so a one to two week presentation scope means starting roughly a fortnight before the photography date, with colours approved several weeks earlier.
Is it acceptable to paint over rot or rust before a sale?
No. Painting over soft timber or rust hides neither for long, a building inspection will find it, and a buyer who discovers it after settlement has a legitimate complaint. Repair what can be repaired, disclose what cannot, and get any damaged pre-1990 fibro assessed by a licensed asbestos assessor.
What colours sell a coastal house best?
Warm off-whites and soft greys on walls, crisp white water-based enamel on trims and doors, and one restrained accent on the front door. The aim is letting a buyer picture their own furniture in the rooms, so avoid strong personal colours and avoid very dark exteriors in full coastal sun.
