Outside of House - painting bricks and tiles?

The outside of our house is very unattractive it has NO curb apeal. It's a bungalow. The very bottom metre of wall is red brick. Not attractive brick, bit shabby. Everything above this is rendered in a bobbly plaster which is white.

On the two gable ends, at the top of the hosue, in the triangle shaped area of the walls (the triange made by the 2 sides of the roof coming down on either side), the walls are covered in tiles (wood tiles I suspect). They are not pretty either!

We had great plans to externally insulate the house, therefore providing great insulation and also a new attractive facade.

However, we now need to emigrate and have very little money to spend on the house, but need to make it rentable and I think the outside is so bad it won't do it any favours as it is?

So - I plan on painting the bricked band around the bottom of the house in white to match the rendered plaster and repainting the plaster/rendering. Can anyone recommend how we do this? I'm assuming we need to do something to stop the paint being absorbed into the bricks?

Then the tiles on the gable ends? Could I paint them too? The idea being that nothing in particular would stand out and be too offensive?

Any cheap ideas or any hints on how to do such painting would be much appreciated. Thanks

Painting tiles and bricks are a no-no for anyone with even a modicum of interest in property or buildings - its a disastrous step you cannot come back from.

Plus I don't think you should judge this particular book by its cover - it obviously attracted you enough for you to buy it!

Having watched endless makeover and letting programs over the past two or three years, the greatest asset any property has for letting is location followed by price.

However in a market of otherwise equals, how the house is presented internally can make all the difference between a sale/let and an "I'll get back to you".

De-clutter the house and de-personalise it in line with accepted practice - ensure there are no rooms which are too dark or finished in strong colours.

Externally I would limit myself to trimming the hedges, cutting the grass, and making good any paint which needs it (windows, etc).

Fair enough, I know myself painting bricks rings alarm bells - however it's no red brick beauty if you know what I mean. The location is fantastic but my god, it's an UGLY house.

Believe me I was attracted to it inspite of how it looked, not in any way due to it! I had vision to see what it could be - and still could. Sadly circumstances and money will keep that vision at a distance for a good while yet.

The external insulation we planned all along was the solution, but that's too expensive.

Okay so forgetting the bricks. The tiles on each gable end (which on a bungalow that already has render and bricks going on) just add another fussy element.

Removing these sections of tiles - and rendering what is beneath? A no-no to?

I'd leave it au naturel unless you are going to significantly upgrade the insulation.

Since I don't know the property there is little I can offer by way of comment here.

I would be concerned you might do more harm than good and achieve no benefit.


ONQ.

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.

I would concentrate on the inside and freshen up the garden if you are bailing out.

A poorly thought out and poorly executed botched 'painting' job will be, as pointed out, a one way disaster.

Renters dont really care about the outside, its the inside:
is it clean, airy bright warm, cosy, not drafty, good showers/bathrooms. nice kitchen etc

Yeah I kind of knew that. But it's damn ugly! Just a bit worried we won't get the potential renters over the threshold.

Great house otherwise. Such a shame, if I'd known we'd be jumping ship so quickly after buying we obviously wouldn't have bought it.

You can get special masonry paint. I used it on brick gateposts and it looks fine. Ask in a DIY shop if it would be suitable for your situation.

I understand what other posters are saying about not painting, but I know where you're coming from too, and if the exterior is an eyesore then I do think it will give a bad impression to anyone who views, even before they see the (presumably much nicer) interior.

I would also add though that if you're advertising it on the internet then a very good set of pictures of the interior - in focus, taken in daylight, rooms clean and beds made up, etc - will be the good first impression, and the real life exterior will in fact be the second impression (so won't carry as much weight).

If you're looking for renters I don't think you need to worry too much, I rented for 20 years and not once did I care how the house looked on the outside. Location/Price were the clinchers. The inside will then come into play so make sure pictures are good (if you're going to use pics). I despair of some of the pics I see of houses on the net.

I lived in another house is a not so nice part of limerick (not saying where) for 6 months and it was price first and then inside that convinced me. The outside was horrid brown brick not maintained with the horrid bobbley paint gone all dirty. That said the houses with painted brown brick looked no better except they were painted.

Remember you spend most of the time inside the house.

I agree with becky- renters dont care about outside of your house. location and price are the main things.
after that its nice interior- dosen't have to be anything fancy- but shabby sofa/ grimy kitchen/ dirty shower will put someone off much more than unattractive facade. the onlything important outside is your garden and bins- are you going to get someone to cut grass for you ? do you want tenants to do it ( not recommended). are you going to pay bin charges for new tenants.
and what gets renters to vuiw a place is good photos on daft.

A friend of mine is currently looking to rent in a big popular town- its all run down tatty 3 bed semis. make you house look nice and if its in a good location you'll have no issues renting