AIBU to not paint the room before moving

[hangingshirt]

DH and I are due to move in the next couple of weeks (due to exchange this week).

We haven't done anything to the house since we moved in 5 years ago as it was recently decorated in neutral colours just before we moved in. The only room we felt the need to decorate was the bedroom as we felt it was cosier with a bit of colour. So we painted the walls.

At the time we had a new baby DS so quickly moved furniture into the spare room/baby room and painted. Left it a few days then moved back in. DS then moved into his room a few weeks later.

We decided to sell up and move to a bigger place and try for DC2 (arriving sooner than originally planned ). We put house on the market, found a new place which brings us back round to this week where exchange is due to happen.

Here's the issue. When we painted the room we just wanted a quick fix so only moved the furniture we were able to. We couldn't move the wardrobe so just bought a small paint brush and tried to paint behind the wardrobe as much as possible. Obviously once the wardrobe is moved there's going to be a very obvious section of unpainted wall.

It's been about 2 years since we painted and we have both forgotten about it. It's only come up now as we have been reminiscing about the house and talking about a funny thing which happened while we painted the room. We now have no time to repaint the whole room which we would have to as we have forgotten the specific shade we used.

Do we/should we tell the buyers about this before exchange which could result in us losing our house. It's been 9 months from offer to now and there is a fairly long chain. I don't really know much about our buyers except they are a couple in their mid-late 30s and are first time buyers with no children.

AIBU to think no one would pull out of buying a house due to a poorly painted bedroom wall?

I already know we ABU for having such lazy decorating skills

I bought a house 2 years ago with carpet cut out like this. Cream and blue in the same room, completely different carpet under the wardrobes.

My response was, oh, bollocks, looks like I'm replacing them sooner than I expected. The end.

If the rest of the house hasn't been painted for upwards of 3 years anyway, I'd be buying it expecting to paint it myself anyway. I wouldn't even bother telling them personally, certainly not offering money, it's minor cosmetic work which is generally something you should expect with a house unless it's a)brand new or b)empty and obviously newly decorated

Personally I wouldn’t want a DIY job anyway

Because the difference between painting a wall yourself and paying a decorator £200 to do it is....?

You are totally overthinking this. I have purchased many apartments and houses over the years and NEVER NOT re-painted everything. And in several of them I found exactly what you have described. It's not that uncommon and no one will think the worst of you for it. With all the issues involved in selling/buying/moving, this should not even be on your radar. If they mention something after completion, sling them a little money, otherwise just don't even say anything. Unless it was specifically itemized in your documents, it's not normal to include a promise to deliver a fully painted house in home sale documents.

No need. They'll want to redecorate anyway.

I would leave it and not mentioN, it's not really a big deal but mentioning it could delay things

I wouldn't bother to be honest. When I moved into Hunt Towers 7 years ago obviously the previous owners had moved out and had done exactly that, i.e., painted around heavy furniture to make things look better, so I was left with silhouettes of their old dressers and bookshelves! It didn't bother me as I wanted to paint anyway. I literally made that a priority and moved the furniture near, but not up against the wall where I wanted to paint until it was done.

I also found two bottles of whisky tucked in the airing cupboard (previous owners didn't mind a sneaky drink) so that made up for it!

Just leave it, they can paint it themselves. It’s such a non issue

They'll be redecorating so leave paint and wine.

It's a house that's been lived in. They can't expect show home quality. £200-300 is way too much to offer as well. I'd not even bother saying anything. It's paint, who cares. Not likely they'll leave it the same colour anyway.

We had the same with a book case in our dining room. We painted it after we had disassembled it. Didn't seems right to leave a huge rectangle of red in a room painted magnolia.......

Just ask the estate agents to contact them and explain the situation. Ask if they want you to paint it. In which case do a feature wall or if they would be happy with a £50 Homebase voucher if they were planning to paint anyway.

If I was the purchaser, I would rather you left it. I imagine they will repaint anyway.

We once bought a house and a huge chunk of carpet in the sitting room was missing. They had put a large sofa over the affected area so we had to recarpet, which we certainly hadn't budgeted for.... paint is relatively cheap, and quick to fix.

We bought our first home earlier this year, if we’d have found that we’d have probably laughed & it would have given an incentive not to put decorating off (as we have done).

Leave it as it is and definitely don't tell them or offer them money!

Leave a bottle of wine on the floor in front of dodgy wall

Honestly, I would not repaint the wall! Its a patch of unpainted wall, I've found far, far worse one moving into a house! Just leave it. If it were me, I'd actually find it quite funny. And don't leave a tin of paint, how do you know you'll get the colour they want? You've said you can't get the same shade as you don't know what it was called. It would be such a waste.
No need to mention it.

If a bit of missing paint is the worst thing they will find when they move then your house must be lovely OP!

I’ve done this and just left it. It’s paint- hardly a hole or something. Most people will redecorate anyway.

After struggling to sell my house, I started painting just after a group viewing, that day I received offers from two of the people who viewed! So I gave up painting lol. Never had any complaints about there being half a wall painted in the one of the rooms.

I'd be disappointed not to find a quirk like this in a house I've bought. If that is genuinely all they've got to worry about, you've done them a favour, OP! It's nice to leave a bottle of something as a welcome gift, I think, and I am sure they'll have a laugh about your shoddy decorating. At least you've not left all the plug sockets DIY wired into the cooker circuit, damp carpet hidden under rugs etc etc all of which we have encountered and I am sure we are not alone!.

Oh you are a good vendor OP. We recently bought a house where the bathroom wasn't plumbed in properly and the vendor didn't think it was necessary to tell us, so I really wouldn't worry about an unpainted wall.

Could you just leave the wardrobe?

It's a total non-issue - I can't believe people are suggesting paint it / give them money off the price / leave them the wardrobe. Just leave it! They are probably going to redecorate it anyway.

I would leave it don’t worry they’ll probably want to decorate anyway.

Way over-thinking this. Don't find any random people to paint it, do not give them £300 for a sketchily emulsioned room, and stop fretting about it. They'll paint when they come in. Your paths will presumably not cross on moving day as you'll be out before they pick up keys to get in. I imagine lots of us here will have some horror stories about moving in and finding something a lot worse than patchy paint.