The color of the Maine home, house that a seller wants to move out of, relocate and replace it with another one smaller, bigger.
With more or less Maine land. Or in another area of the country, out of state. Does the color of the Maine property listing matter all that much?
In parts of the World the more colorful, vibrant the shades, hues, colors the better.It means festive, fun, let go and be foot loose, fancy free right?
You see that vacation cruising into port on a Caribbean island. More variety of colors than you and I might be used to in our neighborhoods that we call our real home.
Have always thought if you are the proud owner of a house in a subdivision of three hundred pretty much just like it units, how do you find your way home without GPS?
A trail of breadcrumbs? Or studying the house numbers alone? Possibly searching for some other memorable landmark. Like the next door neighbor has a basketball hoop, a front yard trampoline. Maybe an old Land Rover, Jaguar, something exotic parked in the yard as your beacon, reference point.
In Maine, homes are pretty much built one at a time. Slow growth, no sprawl, no pressure or housing explosion. And steady she goes, and easy pace housing market construction process unravels. Plays out, just chugs along with a comfortable gate. In New England, maybe it goes back to the days of Puritan, conservative thinking. Keep it simple, make it white. Don’t call attention to yourself in any way. It’s not about you. All about others. Keep it drab, uncontroversial, everything subdued, in the background.
Or there was a time that not just your home color was limited, but not many dared drive, try to insure say a red colored car.
Because the auto insurance was higher. With the thinking that along with the passion for red, a lead foot was part of the package to insure.
The red car driver must be daring, reckless and a deviant from the norm of ho hum colors for most autos, trucks, vehicles on the roadways.
You really stood out when the only one of a handful using different colors not seen so much on the open road, highways.
The days of everyone driving a Ford model T in basic black are over.
The sky is the limit on the color wheel. For everything from Hamilton Beach kitchen mixers in orange, purple, green and not just white, silver, black.
Same with the Jeeps that are Gecko high voltage green, or oange crush painted. Show your individuality with a splash of color that in pretty much everything from lap tops to cell phones come in colors, plaids, patterns. To stand out in the crowd. Be an exclusive, one of a kind. With a Maine house and roof color though, easy does it still applies.
If you travel up into the St John River Valley along the Canadian US border in Northern Aroostook County, you will see bright blues, strong yellows, ruby reds and other assorted house exterior colors. The home owners there are daring enough to express themselves with color. More stylish and comfortable with the exterior paint brush color selections.
But to play it save on a house resale, go more conservative with the exterior and interior colors of a Maine home.
Tone it down. Neautralize. Play it safe. Get rid of peeling paint, hose off the dirt of winter snow plowing sand and make those windows crystal clean and shining. But what about the common colors of Maine homes? Does it mean all you see is a sea of white as snow places with the occasional red stained barn? And that’s pretty much it in New England conservatism ?
The exception of your white, gray, with a variety of play it safe shutter colors of about eight shades you see in the entry level 
Crayola box of crayons are Victorians. “Painted Ladies”.
Where up to five colors happen to accentuate the ginger breading, detailed trim and bay windows, turrets and elaborate wrap around open porches.
The foundation one color, trim boards another, and around windows still another compatible shade.
Nothing gaudy but like eye liner and rouge, make up, to bring out the features and not have the fine details lost in one wash of a lonely single color.
From our experience, bright yellow homes in Maine are do or die, sink or swim for the potential house buyer.
You either love the color or some how back away slowly. Thinking lemon, or too over the edge of the standard meat and potato colors of white, gray, maybe light green, blue. Or natural log with an orange red stain. Maybe cedar shakes or clapboards let to go silver, natural can pass the muster with the next Maine home buyer.
Lake places in Maine exterior colors are the exception to plain Jane colors too. Bright red, electric blue, sunshine yellow, intense green and other fun colors are anchors away, used a lot. Maybe to stand out in a boat on a big Maine lake when like a lighthouse, the color guides the skipper of the vessel back into their own safe harbor. Stands out. When the night approaches, dusk happens and visibility gets poor.
The glow in the dark, vibrant colors come in handy on the Maine waterfront in the fog, mist, dark overcast weather days.
Especially if the captain at the helm has spent a little too long at a neighbor’s camp, cottage or Maine lake home on the far side of the waterfront playground.
With a couple refreshments in their system along with a few greasy cheeseburgers, BBQ finger food consumed with the grilling and chilling at a friend’s Maine lake home retreat. Shooting the breeze about everything and anything.
It’s your home in Maine and should be whatever color you want. Express yourself. Dare to color it your favorite.
But if the metal roof is Pizza Hut Red or butterscotch gold, Robin’s egg blue or other exception colors than basic black, dark or light gray they make and must have orders for, the resale can be limited.
Because not everyone is so comfortable with the deviation from the standard colors that have worked for centuries applied to the Maine home.
Same way with folks that years ago would not be caught dead in bright pink if a guy. But now have loosened up and the sky is the limit when the bedroom closet wardrobe bi-fold louvered doors are sprung, flung opened. In the hustle bustle to get to work or the kids to school or dress to head out to dinner, etc. Anything clean, no matter the color or pattern works for clothing the body, to cover up and head out for the occasion.
And the color of the day has no governor, limit because like golf course clothing to be seen to avoid being hit with the dimpled white ball that hurts, can maim, the use of color is not so unusual. Does not stand out so much any more as different, odd or the exception.
I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573 | info@mooersrealty.com | MOOERS REALTY 69 North St Houlton ME 04730
