I remember the apartment I rented in DC, the walls were something like off-white. I was glad to have this colour instead of stark white even if off-white is not one of my favourite colours.

I might ask future tenants what color they would prefer and if you are agreeable with the shade, paint the house that color. If I was given a choice of colors when renting, I would consider that a high priority in choosing which place to rent.

Thanks for the responses. So I understand, SunRochy, that off-white is better than stark white. I personally am not crazy about off-white because I think it looks a bit 'dirty' beside the white appliances and ceiling. Do you think a light beige would function just as well?
Marie, I would have no problem painting with a shade tenants choose (as long as it's not too bold). However, we need to paint now, and we're renting in half a year. This is the sort of area where people only rent places available witihin the next month. Can't advertise for tenants yet. Plus, I'm thinking maybe the house will show better all freshly painted, rather than asking tenants to use their imagination.
I will let them choose bedroom colours, however (in the light to medium range), and will have that painted before they move in.

How about a taupe? That color is very popular right now, and it's neutral but not white.

I am not a fan of tannish colours, but I will take either light beige or taupe over plain white. If I was looking to rent in your area, I would run to your house! It is very nice to have a place being kept decently by the owners and renters. When I lived in DC, I had a condo (after living in an apt for 2 years) and rented out 2 rooms. All bedrooms and hall were painted cotton blossom, which was very pale yellow. Everyone said that they really liked it because it was so cheerful.

renters are used to being told they have to live with white walls. They might find ANY color a welcome change.

here's another idea--paint it what color YOU would like, so you can live with a place you enjoy, and then, if your tenants seem nice, tell them that you'll let them paint it any color they like, other than red, black or navy (bcs they're hard to paint over), as long as they pay for the paint and deal w/t he labor.

And, if they stay long enough to qualify for landlord-funded repainting, let them pick the color, within reason.

For now, either beige or the biscuity color would probably be fine.

i honestly don't think people are going to turn down a rental that is 1) in their price range; 2) has enough space; and 3) is in decent shape, just because they'd rather have taupe walls than pale creamy yellow.

Thank you all for your responses! I think in light of your opinions, I will go for a somewhat neutral biscuit colour so that I can enjoy my home till summer and still attract renters then. Thanks again.

The ubiquitous apartment color in DC is Shell White, an off-white. Landlords buy tankers full of that stuff every year, and probably 90% of the units are painted that same off-khaki color. Simplifies repainting.

When I vacated my own unit and rented it to the next tenants, they didn't like my sage green/mustard/sapphire rooms. Guess what they wanted? Shell White. I now have all my units painted that color...or lack of color.

:) warn neutrals coordinate better than cool ones, so a 'biscuit' color will work out fine-

navajo white seems to be a good 'not white' around here.

my previous LL was going to replace the astro-fungus in our apartment with nicer 'berber' carpet, and I asked him not to- I'm hell on carpets, and told him there was no point in me wrecking a good carpet when I would be fine with the one in there...which lead to a discussion about painting the place, which lead to him buying me about 5 gallons of paint...

so I got to spend 4 years in a place that really suited me, he got some fairly extensive restoration work (there was a mahogany bannister hidden under 50 years of paint) out of the deal, and the new tenants got the new carpet- we all made out :)

You're probably going to have to paint again after they move out, so I would buy something cheap.
Most all our rental units have required repainting afterwards.
Good paint would be wasted.
We always paint everything somekind of off white.

I must be doing something wrong lol. I've been in the same place for six years now, and my landlord has never painted, not even when I moved in. I always do it myself, and I pay for it. Everything is off-white.

Recently I decided to paint my bathroom light purple (think grape Laffy Taffy if anyone remembers that lol) to match my shower curtain & carpets. He saw it last weekend when he was here for some repairs and didn't even bat an eye. I guess he figures that as long as I used quality paint and he didn't have to pay for it, he wasn't going to complain.

I think a good choice would probably be Behr's swiss coffee. It is really neutral but not too stark.

Please don't buy cheap paint. If you have to cut corners with expense do it someplace else. One place that really gives value is the quality of paint. It will stand up much longer and retain its fresh look so much better.
ivamae