As a homeowner, you are always looking for ways to improve or remodel your home. You may have a long list of items that you want to focus on. However, when the list is longer than the money in your budget allows, you have to make decisions about which items you wish to remodel. The best improvements to make are the ones that are going to save you the most money long-term. Consider these improvements to your home’s curb appeal to save money.
Clean Up Your Front Door
Many realtors suggest cleaning up or repainting your front door before you put your house on the market. You may not realize how much wear and tear your front door takes. It faces the elements of the outdoors, which causes more wear. You can paint and update your door quickly and easily. When you paint it, you can add a bright color to make your door pop. You might see about a 90% return on the money you invested, especially if you have a steel front door.
Focus On Landscaping
When you pull up to a house, the first thing you see is the exterior of the home and the landscaping. When you invest in lawn and garden, it increases your curb appeal. Even better is that the resale value of your house goes up by as much as 14%. Landscaping is a great way to appeal to just about everyone. So much so that when you list your house, landscaping can help you sell your house up to six weeks faster.
You may not even do that much work, depending on what your house looks like. You may put some sweat equity by taking a few hours to do the weeding. Then you can replace the mulch, plant flowers, and put bricks or siders in the flower bed. You want to make sure that the grass is cut regularly. If you have some extra money to spend and you do not want or think you can do the work, you can hire a professional to clean up your landscaping.
Work On the Driveway
You may not realize how important it is for your driveway to look nice. You do not want it to be covered in dirt and weeds. It does not leave a good first impression. You want to powerwash your driveway to help clean off your driveway. In addition, you want to make sure that there is no clutter in your driveway. That includes excess cars, toys, and garbage cans.
If you notice there is grass or weeds pushing through your driveway, you want to get rid of those weeds. It is critical to know that your entire garden and grass contain seeds from weeds. The only weeds that germinate are on the top inch or two of soil because they are exposed to the sunlight.
Exterior Of The House
While you are power washing your driveway, you can consider cleaning the exterior of your house. Your house is beaten up by the weather, like the hot sun, wind, and freezing temperatures. It also tends to get covered in mud and dirt. Next, you should take a look at your siding and windows to determine if they need to be replaced. According to the Census Bureau, about 36% of newly constructed in the U.S. have vinyl siding as a principal material, 23% of them are brick, 17% of stucco, and 13% are fiber cement. Whatever material your siding is, make sure you clean it properly.
If you are interested in saving money over the long term with improvements to your home, consider those mentioned above. If you make the right choices, you may be able to get a high return on your investment.
Leave a Reply