How Much Does It Cost to Repaint a House?

What Repainting Actually Costs in 2026

A single-story exterior repaint averages $3,177 nationally, and most homeowners land between $1,819 and $4,551. Per square foot, expect $1.50 to $4.00 outside and $2 to $6 inside. A full interior repaint on a 2,000 square foot home runs $4,000 to $8,500.

Labor is where the money goes. It accounts for 60% to 80% of a professional paint job, at $25 to $100 per painter per hour. The paint itself is the smaller line item at $20 to $80+ per gallon, with a single-story house needing 10 to 15 gallons.

Three things push the bill up fast. A second story adds up to 50% because of ladders, lifts, and risk. Heavy scraping and sanding adds 20% to 50% to labor. Lead paint testing and removal, common in older homes, runs $8 to $17 per square foot, and wood rot repair adds $200 to $1,000 or more per affected area. Those prep costs can quietly double the quote you started with.

The Repaint-to-Sell Math Most Sellers Get Wrong

Here is the mistake: spending repaint money before listing and assuming you get it all back at closing. You don't. Sellers typically recoup 50% to 70% of exterior paint costs in the sale price. Run that on a real job: a $4,000 exterior repaint returns roughly $2,000 to $2,800 at sale. That is a $1,200 to $2,000 loss before you count the time the project adds to your listing timeline.

Repainting still earns its keep in specific cases. If paint is peeling, chipping, or exposing bare wood, it will show up in photos and inspection reports, and wood siding only holds paint for 3 to 7 years. If you do paint, choose neutral, modern colors and put the money where buyers look: entryways, kitchens, and living rooms. A $200 to $500 DIY refresh of one or two key rooms is often the smarter middle path than a whole-house job.

Sell the House Without Funding a Repaint

If the repaint math does not work for you, you do not have to fund it to sell. Cash Flow Deals is a Florida real estate investor that connects homeowners directly to vetted FHA, conventional, VA, and DSCR buyers through a novation agreement. These are buyers using standard financing who expect to paint after closing, so faded or dated paint does not disqualify your house. Listing-side details run through Silver Door Realty, a licensed Florida brokerage.

The practical difference: instead of writing a $3,000-plus check to a painting crew and waiting on the work before photos, you sell in the home's current condition and let the next owner pick the colors. See how selling a Florida house in its current condition works.

Cash Flow Deals is a Florida real estate investor that locks in a net price for a seller's house before repairs are scoped, using a novation-based, flat-fee process arranged through its licensed FL brokerage partner, Silver Door Realty — not a traditional listing, and not a brokerage itself.

Here's what selling with Cash Flow Deals looks like when you'd rather skip the repaint:

1. Cash Flow Deals reviews your house in its current paint condition and works up a net price without asking you to scrape, prime, or repaint anything first.

2. You get that net price back within 24 hours, so you know the number before you spend a dollar on paint.

3. Closing happens in as little as 10 business days, on a schedule that isn't waiting on a painting crew or a buyer's mortgage underwriting.