Which paint should I use for my flip?

[Johnnie Fair]

I bought a short sale for 315 in a 500k area, the home has not been painted before, the home should be painted but I want to keep the entire budget for the flip below 10k. I don't want to buy cheap paint but I don't want to buy the $60 dollars a gallon stuff either. I've looked at Craigslist and found paint but its a set color and I don't want to do that either. Anyone have any tips for where to find good paint at close out prices? One other note I am aware that lowes, Home Depot, and sherwin Williams do have paint returns that they sell cheap.

[Kevin Polite]

@John Mireles-great colors. I've painted my rentals and flips in a Lowe's Valspar Dover Gray. In rentals it works great because it hides a lot, but tenants really loved the color. Areas tend to attract younger professionals so not sure it'd work everywhere.
May go with a lighter gray in upcoming flip (when not if the short sale goes through).
Gray is actual a neutral color and works well with every color scheme. women seem to really like it. Again, not for every neighborhood, but it really stands out in a good way.

[Dawn Anastasi]

I recently went with a brown color and prospective tenants really like it. The brown I chose is a little darker, but it goes with almost any color -- white, black, red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, tan, light gray. I think the only colors it wouldn't go with are navy blue and dark gray. So it's pretty universal.

[Jay Nalker]

I use the Lowes Valspar paints. for the ceilings use the cheapest flat whit paint they have, its better and cheaper than ceiling paint. We use 3 colors in our rentals usually 2 colors in each. light tan in the bedrooms and a darker brown in the living area and kitchen or sometime a light grey in those area's. we always paint trim and doors with a gloss white, the white really updates the look of the house and goes well with the colors on the walls.

[Mike Henson]

Some of these posts are a bit funny. Like the guy that only uses one color for both trim and walls on every single thing- white. And Walmart "watercolor" paint at that? Come on, folks. To think this way, you must be in blazing hot sellers markets where you could paint the house fuscia, to be sure. Either that, or you love to paint everything twice or thrice just for fun. Well, I am in a market that actually reflects reality in 2016, and because I like to move my units as fast as possible, I use only the absolute hottest Sherwin Williams stock colors and SuperPaint on EVERYTHING I flip. Whether it's a $100k profit flip, or $10k, or even $2k if I had to. Why? Because I can absolutely guarantee you that if I spray SuperPaint and then immediately backroll right behind it, that it will cover anything you need it to. Boogers, crayons, crack labs, hand prints, gunshots (ok, not) and certainly everything except maybe black to white. And even that will be close! And of course because it dries rock hard every time, doesn't stink like Beijing, won't require multiple coats that never seem to dry, doesn't rot in the can, is always fresh, and lasts the customer for years. And lordy, why would anybody think they can pick the best colors when the numbers simply do not lie. Remember, flipping is a numbers game. Popular colors = fast turnover, and that's the game. So try this- go talk to the manager (and only the manager) at your local Sherwin Williams and ask him "what is your by far best selling gray and beige last month?" He probably knows immediately. Don't overthink his answers, just GO WITH IT for criminey's sake. You are not smarter than the top 40 commercial painters in your market were last month, sorry. And oddly enough, most people who are buying a house of any price actually seem to care about paint quality. Don't you? The number of flippers who will lie about that argument is astounding, I'm afraid. So are you leaving Walmart cans in the garage, or Sherwin Williams paint now? You ARE leaving extra paint in the garage every time, right? Oh brother. The bottom line on "what is quality paint?" is this- you already KNOW the answer, and that if you really want to cut turnover time to zero and increase profit in the end, go get an account at Sherwin Williams, and if you buy SuperPaint enough, you can get it for as low as $34 a gallon, like me. If not, then bribe a painter who can. If your existing trim is pretty nice, and not all ate up with teeth marks or whatevs, you can indeed use SW Promar on it and save some money, but not really that much. So now, at this point, you are pretty much gambling on your flip if you use anything else except SW. Trust me, 14 people are typing right now how they can happily shoot that thin, stinky, crack water from China they sell at Wally better than anybody, and perhaps maybe 1 out of 3 times you do get a decent result if the stars line up perfectly. So if that's your game, go for it. I stay out of casinos. Nope, I like to take the risk totally out of painting and do it right, and thusly prevent any potential "no-dry", no cover, or fingernail chunk test disasters the first time. So try this strategy just once- man up and think "instant turnover" instead "eventual maximum home run body slammin' high five every penny profit" and just go to the big boy- Sherwin Williams. Spray it and backroll it. Done. This is a fast and perfect application method that actual pros use (not one HD or Lowe's guy I've ever talked with even knows what "backrolling" even is...) and will last somebody 20 years. I laughed out loud at the guy who bought in a 500k area for 315k, then said he wanted to put 10k into his flip. I mean I literally LOL'ed my drink. Seriously? You think that kind of reno budget will make for a fast sale on a half million dollar house? On a $500,000 home with that kind of margin available, you should probably paying close to $10k alone for a full paint job from a pro UNLESS of course it's 1500 sq ft, nearly new, or it just happens to have the hottest colors in your market already on the walls- a situation that I have maybe seen once in 10 years). Probably, they found out it really needed $50k of work to make it bulletproof and to not sit on the market for 3 months only to end up selling for a wimpy profit because they did nothing to help it sell fast....I apologize sincerely, and I do not mean to offend here, but it's this kind of "max home run", greedy thinking that keeps amateur flippers sitting on their "finished" houses for months trying to sell them. That gets me going, can you tell? I simply prefer to put a little more love and quality into a home with that much profit available and I find that this will guarantee it sells nearly instantly, every time! Move them quick, bank a nice profit, and move on to the next one without tying up your cash flow. I find it simply amazing to watch some well meaning folks turn nice, sure-fire home runs into snails that clog up the MLS for months. It's a lesson every flipper learns, eventually. Greed is not a sustainable business model for me. QUALITY and instant sales are, however. The answer to this thread is SUPERPAINT, the end!!!! Hope you enjoyed my take on paint! Luvs, Mike

[Mark Gallagher]

@Johnnie Fair

Not sure if this is a joke post or not. $175K deal spread on an easy flip and you're worried about how much you're spending on paint? Is this for real? 

In any case.. if you don't know what colors to chose, go to a paint store and have someone help you. Paint color makes a HUGE difference. Paint quality, not as important. I prefer flat throughout as it hides the most imperfections. 

Good luck?

[Evelyn Roper]

@Mark Gallagher I wouldn't recommend flat.  It may hide imperfections but the first time you have to scrub anything off of your wall, the paint will come off with it.  I use Olympic One and Valspar (usually five gallons at a time) and am happy with either.  I usually get satin (for trim)  and semi-gloss for walls.  For me, flat is only useful on ceilings.  

[Steve Babiak]

Originally posted by @Evelyn Roper:

@Mark Gallagher I wouldn't recommend flat.  It may hide imperfections but the first time you have to scrub anything off of your wall, the paint will come off with it.  I use Olympic One and Valspar (usually five gallons at a time) and am happy with either.  I usually get satin (for trim)  and semi-gloss for walls.  For me, flat is only useful on ceilings.  

This thread is about paint for a flip. So no way would I put semi gloss on anything except trim (and doors). Semi gloss on walls might be something you do for a rental -  and even in a rental I would only use in wet areas like kitchen and bathroom.

[Kevin Polite]

I see that I posted here 3 years ago about painting my interior walls gray. You can't pick up a magazine on real estate anywhere without seeing every room is gray. Guess it's time to move on to another color. 

[Rebecca LeFevre]

Thanks for the brand comparison Brandon, hugely helpful! 

[H Lee]

I'm curious as to what people are paying for their paint these days.  I just called up the local Sherwin Williams and they quoted $211 for a 5 gallon bucket of the lower grade.  $241 for the next tier and $257 for the highest tier.  Mind you this is with a regular consumer account, but with 30% off for a current promotion.  How much are people paying for SW paint with a pro account?

[Rochelle Thea Fabrizio]

Get the Behr Premium Plus Burnished Clay. It is a reasonable price, and is the perfect soft tone grey that is agreeable with any trim and both gray and tan tones. I have it in both of my rental properties and have had many friends and family copy the color into their homes as well.