How often do you re-paint your SFRs?

Question

I'm wondering how often you re-paint the interiors of your single family rental homes? I have one in a college town and though it mostly rents to graduate students or community members, most people there will rent for a year.

Also, I'm sure this will vary but about how much does it cost you to re-paint the interior of a single floor ~1,000 sq ft 3 br 2 ba house (Midwest)?

Thanks!

Dawn Anastasi · Answer

I use a good quality semi-gloss paint so that the interiors don't look bad for years. I did use cheap flat paint when I first started rentals and that's a mistake I'll never make again because it looked dirty after about a year.

Rachel H. · Answer

It would depend on the wear and tear on the inside. With move outs, usually some touch-ups will be needed. Over the years, I've learned using good primer and quality paint goes a long way down the road.

Hope that helps!

Amie D. · Answer

Wow. This post is like a year old LOL.

I am not usually nearby my rental properties but I was with this one. If I recall correctly, I just retouched the places that needed it.

Walt Payne · Answer

Semi gloss vs. eggshell versus satin depends on the manufacturer. One company's semi gloss might be another's eggshell, or it might be closer to their glossy. Flat paint is a mistake. It gets scuff marks way too easily. I have seen newly renovated places that looked crappy after a few showings because of people bumping into, or leaning against the walls. A low lustre, slightly glossy paint is the best compromise. Buy a stock color. Don't use white or off white. A neutral, light color like beige works well. Then wash any bad spots, do one quick coat on entire walls that need it to avoid splotching.

Jassem A. · Answer

You can hire someone to paint the walls with semigloss for that size house for $300-500 or about $80 a room, maybe less.  Someone skilled with a roller and cut-in brush can do all the walls for that size house in like 2-3 hours.

After I get a house back, I will usually go there with magic erasers, a gallon of matching paint, and a $2 disposable roller just to see how much of the walls can be cleaned up or spot-painted in a couple hours.  If the paint job still looks bad after that, I will look at hiring someone.

Scott Stevens · Answer

I'd call around and describe the house and get at least 3 quotes. Will you be nearby to observe or rely on a prop mngr to view the work? If you're nearby, you could skimp a bit and micromanage. Around Savannah, Georgia, most pros will charge about $1 per sq foot of the room that needs to be painted. It depends on what all will be painted too. Having picked up a foreclosure with nasty colors throughout and an amateur paint job over a perfectly fine builder paint, I can tell you it is alot more work than what amateurs do where they get a roller kit from home depot and cheap paint and get paint all over the ceiling. Also, no sense painting the walls if your baseboards, window sills, and doors will look bad, but if those are decent, they could be magic erased. All of that will take extra time and may make the price higher. Also, what patching and prep work needs to be done? How drastic is the color change? Will primer be needed, or just two coats of paint. These are all questions I'd ask after having done all this painting.

A house should not need to be repainted after two years. You should be able to touch up everything pretty well if you saved some of the paint. I would look at some tutorials on how to get the touch up to come out as good as possible. If you are in the area, you could probably do this yourself. And if the house does need to be repainted, that is probably more than wear and tear after only two years. Good luck.

Amie D. · Answer

Well, it is a college town, but mostly rents to older graduate students or community members. So even though it's not the highest end house, I don't really want it looking cheap.

I'm going down there to take a look at it myself, as I'm overdue for a visit anyway. Seems like if it was just entirely painted two years ago and needs a whole house painting already, it needs to come out of someone's deposit because that seems like a lot of unusual wear and tear, else I feel like the prop mgr is just trying to get more $$ out of me.

Mike Franco · Answer

Semigloss looks fine on textured walls.
and college kids won't care how "cheap" it looks.

My rental is $2000, and no one has ever commented on how cheap the semigloss looks.

As for price, you'll have to call a few contractors and see. You can have 1000 sqft and a bunch of walls, and that would be more expensive.

Albert Hasson · Answer

I use a Dunn Edwards flat on the walls with Satin white trim.  I use the same color on all my rentals.  I don't like the semi gloss walls because when you wipe them down you see the wipe marks.  Normally I pay my handyman about $50 to touch up a whole house with the flat paint and it looks like new.

Kyle J. · Answer

I don't have a regular re-painting schedule. I've always painted my houses when I first acquired/remodeled them and before putting a renter in. Upon any vacancy/turnover, I simply clean up the smudges and/or repaint any small damaged areas as needed. (Using eggshell or semi-gloss makes it much easier.)

As for cost, that varies greatly depending on the area and the actual painter. I've found that you generally get what you pay for. My painter isn't the most expensive, and he isn't the cheapest either. However, he does do very good work.

How often do you re-paint your SFRs?

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