question on selling houses and paint

[SpiritFire]

ok i notice they like it when you add some certain items.. tv's beds bookcases and such.. and they like you picking up the garbage in the house.. and plastering the walls.. but thats about it? they never have any up or down arrows when i paint (or care what color either). do they care if you bother to paint it, or is it just my ocd'ness that requires it to be painted? they dont seem to care about a few other things either, like weeding the yard, etc. or am i mistaken?... or even the outside of the house repainted or recovered? they also dont seem to care if i wash the windows or install radiators either...

does any of this stuff actually raise the price of the house, or is it just a waste of time and money?
btw.. huge lack of extrerior options for outer wall coverings. but thats another story.

[Turtleswatter]

Hi. Some of the buyers care a lot, not just about whether the walls are painted but what colour as well. You can't always rely on up and down arrows. There are other threads about how wacky the buyers reactions are to what you do. You need to keep an eye on when the buyers change order rather than up or down arrows. Everything you do to "improve" the house will add to the value.

Outside is a different matter. Nothing you do outside will affect the buyers, however you can enter the garden in a competition when you sell the house that can add up to 50% to the value. So weeding, mowing and laying gravel, plants etc will affect the selling price. There are lots of guides about this available.

Finally, although there are very few wall panels just for the outer walls, you can use any of the indoor wall coverings. Let yourself go and tile yourself a shiny purple house.