Question for Home buyers/sellers

[Hawaii Hiker]

My mom died in 2011...I'm going to sell her townhome....Its in very good condition for the most part...My question is all rooms incl kitchen, bathrooms, have wallpaper in them....Now the kitchen paper is kinda beat up, so I was going to remove that paper and just paint it...

Do home buyers today expect wallpapering to be removed and will they have ventricular tachycardia if it isn't?...Or, are some buyers ok with wallpaper as long as its in decent condition?....

I haven't been involved in a real estate transaction in over 25 years so not sure what todays buyers want, but I've read in couple places that wallpapering is frowned upon...

[Sheldon Cooper]

1. I hate wallpaper in any form, so a house where every room was papered would be a problem for me.

There's way too much variation in taste and style and, in my opinion, most wallpaper is just plain ugly. Having each room painted in a neutral color would allow me to better visualize actually living in those rooms, with my furniture and color choices not being in an epic clash with the wallpaper. And having all this painting done by someone who is not me would be even better. In other words, I want the place to be in move-in condition.

To summarize: unless it was one hell of a great deal, all that wallpaper would probably cause me to walk away.

[Hawaii Hiker]

3. The wallpapering is mostly blue/white patterns, nothing that's an

eye sore...No pinks, oranges, red, etc....Just fairly nuetral patterns that don't strain the eye..

I could see people absolutely not wanting paper that was in a kids room, ie: wallpaper with the Incredible Hulk, or wallpaper with the minions from Despicable Me, etc....

[Dont call me Shirley]

2. A show on HGTV just sheet rocked over the paper instead of peeling it all off.

[pipi_k]

6. Sheetrocking is a pain too but

way easier than ripping off wallpaper for sure!


I had some ugly-ass wallpaper in my kitchen for years. Instead of ripping it down or painting over it (probably not a great idea since it was vinyl), we just covered it up with beadboard.

Nice light buttercream yellow. I love it.

[Dont call me Shirley]

9. I bet your kitchen looks great now! Stripping WP can be a nightmare.

[station001]

4. Getting a Realtor?

If so, they could probably tell you how people seem to like it in that specific area currently. That may be your best bet. My realtor was awesome when it came to questions like that.

[Chan790]

5. It depends.

I dislike wallpaper but I wouldn't walk away from something priced to move over it. I have contractors to do renovations on anything I'm buying anyways. (I tend to need to modify before move-in...I'm picky and often buy property that needs the +/- of a wall or two or installation of something. Hiring a pro to strip and repaint isn't a pain if it saves me several thousand on buying price.)

Conversely, 20 hours of elbow-grease and $200 in supplies to remove it and paint might make a $5k-10k difference in what you can get in asking price...a lot of people will pay a premium for move-in ready.

[pipi_k]

7. Yeah, it seems

that wallpaper has mostly fallen out of favor.

People prefer neutral paint colors, so if you're thinking of painting, keep that in mind.


I watch a lot of those home selling/buying shows on TV, and so many buyers want homes they don't have to do much to.

What pisses me off is the picayune buyers who focus on small details like the handles on kitchen cabinets, lighting fixtures, etc. Cosmetic issues.

And then there's, "Oh, I want granite countertops!!!" crap.


ugh. Maybe it's just me, but I like looking at the potential in a home, even if it's relatively new. Back when Mr Pipi and I were trying to see our home and buy another (2010) we looked at some houses that were way out of date. One of them was still sporting 1970s fixtures and stuff and I thought it was awesome.

[Major Nikon]

8. The problem is that wallpaper far outlasts paint so eventually it looks dated and out of style

If the wallpaper looks out of style you can wallpaper over it with a more up to date pattern, which is your cheapest and easiest option.

[840high]

10. I like wallpapaer so I would be

ok with it. Sell "as is".

[murielm99]

11. I'm with you.

Remove the beaten up wallpaper and paint.

We got rid of a lot of wallpaper in our house. In some spots, we had painted stenciling done, or a border around the ceiling. Other places, we just painted. Painting is easier and less expensive.

The only place we put new wallpaper was the master bedroom. It had icky paneling, which would have been a PITA to remove. We found the type of wallpaper that can go over old paneling with a minimum of fuss.