The Best Paint Colors for Rental Properties: A Landlord's Neutral Color Guide

By PropsManager Team · Maintenance & Repairs · Oct 14, 2025

I've painted over 300 rental units in the last fifteen years. I've made every mistake you can make — accent walls that looked great on Pinterest but horrified prospective tenants, trendy charcoal bedrooms that took four coats of primer to cover, and yes, the infamous "builder beige" that made a perfectly good two-bedroom apartment look like the inside of a cardboard box.

Here's the thing nobody tells new landlords: paint is the single highest-ROI improvement you can make to a rental property. A $400 paint job on a one-bedroom unit can justify a $50–$75/month rent increase. That's a 150–225% annual return on investment. No kitchen renovation, no bathroom remodel, no fancy smart thermostat comes close to that math.

But picking the wrong color? That'll cost you weeks of vacancy while you repaint, plus the materials, plus the labor. I once lost $2,800 in combined vacancy and repainting costs because I thought a "bold sage green" living room would make a unit stand out. It stood out, alright — stood out as the listing that sat empty for six weeks.

Let me save you from my mistakes. Here's everything I've learned about choosing paint colors that attract tenants, reduce turnover costs, and make your life significantly easier at every unit turn.

Why Paint Color Matters More Than You Think

Most landlords treat paint as an afterthought. Slap some white on the walls, call it a day. But prospective tenants make snap judgments. Research from the National Association of Realtors shows that 33% of renters decide whether they're interested in a property within the first 10 seconds of walking through the door. That's before they check the kitchen, before they open the closets, before they test the water pressure.

What they see in those 10 seconds is walls. And walls covered in scuffed, yellowed, flat white paint scream "this landlord doesn't care."

The right paint color does three things for your rental:

1. Reduces vacancy time — Units with modern neutrals rent 15–20% faster than those with dated or stark white walls, according to property management surveys.
2. Justifies higher rent — Fresh, contemporary paint signals a well-maintained property. Tenants will pay more for it.
3. Cuts turnover costs — When you standardize on one or two colors, touch-ups between tenants take hours instead of days.

If you're managing multiple properties, tracking maintenance and unit turns gets complicated fast. That's where tools like PropsManager's maintenance tracking features make a real difference — you can log paint colors per unit, schedule repaints, and keep your turnover process organized across your entire portfolio.

The "Greige" Revolution: Why Gray-Beige Dominates Rentals

Let's talk about the color that changed the rental game. "Greige" — the blend of gray and beige — has been the dominant trend in rental properties and home staging since about 2018, and it's not going anywhere.

Why? Because it's basically foolproof. Greige works with warm-toned furniture and cool-toned furniture. It photographs beautifully for online listings. It doesn't show scuffs and minor wall damage as aggressively as pure white. And it feels modern without being trendy — meaning it won't look dated in five years.

Sherwin-Williams Agreeable Gray (SW 7029)

This is the single most popular paint color in America. Not just for rentals — for everything. And there's a reason for that.

Agreeable Gray is a warm greige that leans just barely toward beige in warm light and just barely toward gray in cool light. It's a chameleon. I've used it in north-facing basement apartments and south-facing top-floor units, and it looks great in both.

• LRV (Light Reflectance Value): 60 — bright enough to make small rooms feel open, but not so bright that every fingerprint shows
• Best for: Living rooms, bedrooms, hallways, basically everywhere
• Cost: Around $55–$70/gallon retail, less if you buy in bulk
• Coverage: Excellent — one coat over similar colors, two coats max over anything else

I've standardized seven of my twelve units on Agreeable Gray. My painters don't even need to ask anymore. This alone saves me about $200/year in leftover partial cans of random colors.

Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter (HC-172)

Revere Pewter is Agreeable Gray's slightly warmer cousin. It has a bit more beige in it, which gives rooms a cozier feel. In my experience, it works better in older buildings with warm wood trim and hardwood floors than Agreeable Gray does.

• LRV: 55.51 — a touch darker, which adds warmth
• Best for: Units with natural wood elements, older buildings, larger rooms that can handle the slightly lower reflectance
• Cost: $75–$85/gallon (Benjamin Moore runs pricier)

Sherwin-Williams Repose Gray (SW 7015)

If Agreeable Gray is the warm greige, Repose Gray is the cool greige. It has more gray in it and less beige. This is my go-to for modern, updated units — think laminate plank flooring, white subway tile backsplash, stainless appliances.

A word of caution: Repose Gray can look slightly purple or lavender in certain lighting conditions, especially north-facing rooms. Always test a swatch first.

• LRV: 58
• Best for: Modern/updated units, contemporary design
• Cost: $55–$70/gallon

Warm Whites: The Alternative to Stark Hospital White

Here's my rule: never use a pure white in a rental. Never. Stark white — your basic ceiling white or "ultra pure white" — does two terrible things. First, it shows every single mark, scuff, handprint, and wall imperfection. Second, it feels cold and institutional. Tenants walk in and their subconscious says "doctor's office."

Warm whites fix both problems. They have just enough pigment to hide minor imperfections and enough warmth to make a space feel livable.

Sherwin-Williams Alabaster (SW 7008)

Alabaster is the warm white I recommend most. It's creamy without being yellow — that's the key distinction. Cheap "antique white" paint from the hardware store bargain bin tends to look yellow, especially under LED lighting. Alabaster never does.

• LRV: 82 — very bright, almost white, but with warmth
• Best for: Kitchens, bathrooms, trim, units where you want a clean-but-cozy look
• Cost: $55–$70/gallon

I use Alabaster as my standard kitchen/bathroom color. It pairs perfectly with Agreeable Gray walls in the living areas, giving the unit a cohesive but varied feel without needing multiple paint colors.

Benjamin Moore White Dove (OC-17)

White Dove is Benjamin Moore's answer to Alabaster. It's a hair warmer, leaning just slightly toward cream. Interior designers love this color, and when tenants see it, they often comment that the unit feels "finished" or "designed" — even when the only thing you did was paint the walls.

• LRV: 85.38
• Best for: Entire unit if you want a single all-over color, especially in well-lit units
• Cost: $75–$85/gallon

Sherwin-Williams Pure White (SW 7005)

For landlords who want white but not that white, Pure White is a solid compromise. It reads as white on the walls but has just enough warmth to avoid the sterile hospital feel.

• LRV: 84
• Best for: Ceilings (always), and walls if you want a cleaner look than greige

Paint Sheen Guide: This Is Where Most Landlords Screw Up

Color gets all the attention, but sheen is where the rubber meets the road in rental properties. The wrong sheen will cost you money in maintenance and repainting. Period.

Here's the rental-specific breakdown:

The Flat Paint Trap

Let me be blunt: never use flat/matte paint on rental walls. I don't care how good it looks in the can or how the paint store employee recommends it for "hiding imperfections." Flat paint cannot be cleaned. At all. One kid drags a greasy hand down the hallway wall, and you're repainting the entire wall because spot-cleaning flat paint leaves visible marks every single time.

I learned this the hard way on a three-bedroom family unit. Used flat paint to save about $3/gallon. Then spent $1,200 repainting the entire unit after 14 months because the walls looked like a Jackson Pollock painting. Eggshell would've held up fine with just a damp sponge.

Satin vs. Eggshell: The Rental Debate

Eggshell has a very slight sheen — just enough to be wipeable. Satin has a bit more shine and is even more durable. For rental walls, I've settled on satin for everything. Yes, it shows wall imperfections slightly more than eggshell, but it's significantly easier to clean and holds up better over multiple years.

If your walls have a lot of patches or imperfections, go eggshell. If your walls are in good shape, go satin and enjoy the easier maintenance.

The One-Color Strategy: How to Save Thousands on Turnover

Here's the single best operational tip I can give you: pick one wall color and use it in every single unit you own.

I know it sounds boring. I know the temptation is to make each unit "unique." Resist that temptation. Here's why standardizing on one color saves you real money:

• Bulk purchasing: Buying 20 gallons at once instead of 4 gallons of five different colors gets you contractor pricing. I pay $38/gallon for Agreeable Gray in 5-gallon buckets. Retail is $65.
• No color matching: When a tenant moves out and you just need to touch up a few walls, your painter grabs the can that's already in the garage. No trip to the paint store, no waiting for a color match, no "close but not quite" patches.
• Faster turnovers: My average unit turn went from 5 days to 2.5 days after I standardized paint colors. At $50/day in lost rent on a $1,500/month unit, that's $125 saved per turnover.
• Simplified inventory: One color. One sheen for walls, one for trim. That's it. No spreadsheet needed. (Though if you're managing a larger portfolio, PropsManager lets you track unit specs including paint colors, which is genuinely helpful when you've got 10+ units.)

Over a year with eight units turning over once each, standardizing paint saves me roughly $2,000–$3,000. That's not theoretical — I tracked it.

Colors to Absolutely Avoid in Rental Properties

Just as important as knowing what works is knowing what doesn't. Here's my blacklist:

• Bold accent walls — They look great in design magazines. They're hell to paint over. That navy blue accent wall requires 3–4 coats of primer before you can cover it. At $15–$20/gallon for primer, plus labor, you're looking at $200+ just for one wall.
• Trendy colors — Millennial pink, dark sage, terracotta. They date themselves within 2–3 years. Neutral never dates.
• True gray (no warm undertones) — Pure gray without any beige warmth reads as cold and depressing. I've had prospective tenants literally say "it feels sad in here" about a unit painted in a cool gray.
• Yellow or gold — Photographs terribly. Online listings with yellow walls get fewer clicks, and in the age of internet-first apartment hunting, your listing photos are everything.
• Bright or saturated anything — Red, orange, bright blue. Just don't. You'll be paying to repaint it the moment that tenant moves out.

Exterior Paint Considerations for Curb Appeal

If you own the whole building, exterior paint matters too. Curb appeal directly impacts tenant quality and rental rates, and exterior paint is a huge part of that first impression.

For exteriors, I stick with:

• Body: A warm gray or greige (Sherwin-Williams Mindful Gray is excellent for exteriors)
• Trim: Crisp white (Sherwin-Williams Extra White holds up well to UV)
• Front door: This is where you can add a pop. Navy blue, black, or dark red front doors all test well with prospective tenants.

Exterior paint is a bigger investment — figure $3,000–$8,000 for a single-family home depending on size and condition. But it lasts 7–10 years and the rent increase you can command from a freshly painted exterior easily covers the cost within the first year or two.

How to Estimate Paint Costs Per Unit

Quick math for budgeting purposes:

• One-bedroom apartment: 2–3 gallons of wall paint, 1 gallon of trim paint. Total: ~$200–$300 in materials.
• Two-bedroom apartment: 3–5 gallons of wall paint, 1–2 gallons of trim paint. Total: ~$300–$450 in materials.
• Three-bedroom house: 5–8 gallons of wall paint, 2–3 gallons of trim paint. Total: ~$450–$700 in materials.

Labor runs $1.50–$3.00 per square foot if you're hiring out. A 900 sq ft apartment typically costs $1,400–$2,700 for a full professional repaint.

DIY? Budget a full day for a one-bedroom, two days for a two-bedroom, and three days for a house. Your time has value too — if you're managing multiple properties, sometimes paying a painter frees you up to handle higher-value tasks. Tracking expenses like paint costs across your portfolio helps you spot when DIY stops making sense and hiring out becomes the smarter move.

Paint Quality: Don't Cheap Out

I'm going to say something that'll sound like I'm shilling for paint companies, but I promise I'm not: buy the good paint.

The difference between a $25/gallon builder-grade flat latex and a $55/gallon premium eggshell is staggering in a rental context. Here's why:

• Coverage: Premium paint covers in 1–2 coats. Cheap paint needs 3–4. You save on labor what you "saved" on paint.
• Durability: Premium eggshell and satin can be scrubbed dozens of times without burnishing. Cheap paint starts showing wash marks after 2–3 cleanings.
• Longevity: A unit painted with Sherwin-Williams Duration or Benjamin Moore Regal can go 4–5 years between full repaints with just touch-ups. Cheap paint needs full repainting every 2 years.

Over a 5-year period, premium paint costs about 40% less than cheap paint when you factor in repainting frequency and labor. I did the math on my own portfolio — $1,800 over five years with premium vs. $3,100 with budget paint on the same unit.

Turnover Painting Checklist

Here's the exact process I follow at every unit turn. Feel free to steal it:

• Walk the unit and identify walls that need full repaint vs. touch-up only
• Clean all walls with TSP (trisodium phosphate) solution before painting
• Fill nail holes and dings with lightweight spackle, sand smooth
• Prime any stains, water marks, or dark-to-light color changes
• Paint ceilings first (flat white, always)
• Paint walls — cut in edges first, then roll
• Paint trim, baseboards, and doors last (semi-gloss)
• Do a final walkthrough under bright lighting to catch drips and missed spots
• Document with photos for your records and upload to your property management system

This process takes my painter about 6–8 hours for a one-bedroom touch-up and 16–20 hours for a full repaint on a two-bedroom. Having a standardized checklist like this is a game-changer — and it ties right into a broader turnover workflow. If you haven't already nailed down your inspection process, this guide on move-out inspections is worth reading.

When to Charge Tenants for Repainting

This comes up constantly, and getting it wrong can land you in legal trouble. The general rule:

Normal wear and tear = landlord's expense. Minor scuffs, faded paint from sunlight, small nail holes from hanging pictures — all normal. You can't deduct repainting from the security deposit for these.

Beyond normal wear and tear = tenant's expense. Crayon all over the walls, large holes, unauthorized paint colors (tenant painted the bedroom purple without permission), smoke damage — these are legitimate deductions.

The key is documentation. Photograph the unit at move-in and move-out. Note paint condition on your inspection reports. This protects both you and the tenant. For a deeper dive on where that line falls, check out our guide to wear and tear vs. property damage.

Explore More PropsManager Resources

Looking for the right property management software? Check out our in-depth guides:

• Compare Property Management Software — See how PropsManager stacks up against Buildium, AppFolio, Rent Manager, and Propertyware.
• Software for Small Landlords — Built for landlords managing 1–50 units without the enterprise price tag.
• AI-Powered Property Management — Discover how automation can save you 5–10 hours per week.
• Solutions for Property Managers — Scale from 50 to 500+ units without scaling your costs.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often should I repaint a rental property?

Plan on a full repaint every 3–5 years for well-maintained units with quality paint. High-traffic areas like hallways and living rooms may need touch-ups annually. If you're using premium satin or eggshell finish and doing proper cleaning between tenants, you can stretch to 5 years between full repaints. Budget units or those with frequent turnover may need repainting every 2–3 years.

Can I charge tenants for repainting when they move out?

Only if the damage exceeds normal wear and tear. Minor scuffs, small nail holes, and faded paint are considered normal use in most jurisdictions and can't be deducted from the security deposit. However, if a tenant painted walls an unauthorized color, left excessive damage, or caused smoke staining, you can typically deduct reasonable repainting costs. Always document the unit's condition at move-in and move-out with dated photos.

Is it worth hiring a professional painter or should I DIY?

It depends on your scale and time value. For 1–3 units, DIY makes sense if you're handy — you'll save $800–$1,500 per unit on labor. But once you hit 4+ units with regular turnover, hiring a reliable painter usually makes more financial sense. A professional crew can paint a two-bedroom apartment in a day; it'll take you two to three days. If that extra downtime costs you $100–$150 in lost rent, the math flips quickly. I switched to hiring out at unit number five and haven't looked back.

What's the best paint brand for rental properties?

Sherwin-Williams and Benjamin Moore are the two dominant brands for rental properties, and both make excellent products. Sherwin-Williams tends to be 15–20% cheaper and offers better contractor discounts, which is why most landlords I know (myself included) lean that direction. Their Duration and SuperPaint lines are workhorses. Benjamin Moore's Regal Select is arguably slightly better in coverage and durability, but at a higher price point. Avoid big-box store house brands for anything other than ceilings.

Should I let tenants paint the walls themselves?

Generally, no. But here's how I handle it: I include a lease clause that says tenants can paint with written approval, but they must use landlord-approved colors (I provide a short list of my standard neutrals) and they must return the unit to the original color at move-out or forfeit a repainting fee from their deposit. In practice, about one in ten tenants asks, and they almost always pick something reasonable. Having it in the lease protects you. Without that clause, you've got no recourse when someone paints the living room neon green.

Make Paint Part of Your Property Management System

Here's the bottom line: paint is one of the most cost-effective tools in your landlord toolbox, but only if you approach it strategically. Pick modern neutrals, standardize across your portfolio, invest in quality products, and track everything.

If you're managing multiple properties and want to streamline your turnover process — including paint scheduling, cost tracking, and maintenance documentation — PropsManager was built specifically for landlords like you. Our platform helps you manage everything from lease agreements to maintenance workflows to financial tracking, so nothing falls through the cracks during unit turns.

Ready to stop managing your properties with spreadsheets and sticky notes? Check out our pricing plans or request a demo to see how PropsManager can simplify your rental business. Your future self — the one who isn't scrambling to remember which paint color goes in which unit — will thank you.