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Mario Am
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  • Nashville, TN
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Painting the brick white? In Colonial Acres 38117

Mario Am
  • Specialist
  • Nashville, TN
Posted Jan 15 2022, 21:05

Hey ya'll.

so I looking into flips in 38117 area and have a few questions for those experienced.

Is there any area that is less desirable in zip 38117? Seems to me like when you go below Willow St it goes worse but not sure about it either.. or is all the area solid? 

Also, I am lately seeing a trend of flippers painting the brick white when selling a property, it seems to make properties stand out and sell faster and the old-fashioned me was wondering what everybody's thought about this? Should I go for painting the brick white? While I love the the regular brick color and think its much prettier than white but I don't mind changing it - I am here for whatever makes more money $$$! 

Thanks for any insight you might have..

Kind Regards,

Mario

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Curt Davis
  • Flipper/Rehabber
  • Memphis, TN
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Curt Davis
  • Flipper/Rehabber
  • Memphis, TN
Replied Jan 15 2022, 21:34

South of Willow is the lower quality area for this zip code even though it’s still a hot area. If it is in the budget and your flipping than painting the brick is a good idea. It does give the home a fresher look. 

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Greg Scott
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  • Rental Property Investor
  • SE Michigan
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Greg Scott
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  • Rental Property Investor
  • SE Michigan
Replied Jan 15 2022, 21:35

I know many like painted brick.  It may be fine for flipping.

As for me, I would never buy a property with painted brick.  In the long run, you have taken something that is maintenance free and made it a maintenance headache.  Even worse, if you do not use the right kind of paint, you can destroy the brick.

Last year I toured an apartment complex where the owner used cheap paint on the brick.  They used a non-breathable paint.  The paint was causing the brick to spall, so every wall looked like hell.  Structurally, they damaged the wall and the wall now needed to be painted every few months to keep it from looking like crap.

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Verna Littleton
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Memphis, TN
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Verna Littleton
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Memphis, TN
Replied Jan 16 2022, 09:51

Painted brick is definitely the trend these days and does wonders to modernize homes. You can drive down any street with older homes and tell which homes have been updated by the exterior. Painted brick gives the home a richer look and as a flipper myself I love to paint brick to make the house stand out. You will definitely see a bigger return on your investment by painting the exterior. See my recent before and after pic below. 

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Mario Am
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Mario Am
  • Specialist
  • Nashville, TN
Replied Jan 16 2022, 11:49

@Curt Davis

Gotcha thanks for the insight and thanks everyone guess white it is!

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Steve K.
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Steve K.
  • Realtor
  • Boulder, CO
Replied Jan 16 2022, 16:07

@Mario Am Left alone, brick is the perfect siding material. It’s porous so it breaths just enough and is basically maintenance free for generations. Once painted, it’s basically wrapped in plastic which traps that moisture inside the wall making mold much more likely as well as causing damage to the brick over time, which could even compromise the structural integrity. It will also need to be repainted every few years and the paint is very difficult to remove if anyone wants to go back to natural brick. I understand why flippers do it because it does look better to the uneducated buyer, but you will turn away buyers who know better. I’d recommend leaving it natural or if you must follow the Joanna Gaines trend and make everything white (is this trend finally over yet anyway or what?), at least use a whitewash or a lime wash that is meant for brick and still allows the walls to breath naturally as intended, so the brick won’t start to crumble and the paint peel in short order like it will if you cover it in latex paint.

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Devin Davis
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Devin Davis
  • Rental Property Investor
  • Memphis, TN
Replied Jan 27 2022, 21:13
Originally posted by @Verna Littleton:

Painted brick is definitely the trend these days and does wonders to modernize homes. You can drive down any street with older homes and tell which homes have been updated by the exterior. Painted brick gives the home a richer look and as a flipper myself I love to paint brick to make the house stand out. You will definitely see a bigger return on your investment by painting the exterior. See my recent before and after pic below. 

  Hey Verna, who did the painting on your property?