The housing market is still very much a buyer’s market in most parts of the country, and that means that extra work and consideration may be necessary to sell your home. Maybe you’re not thinking of selling your home anytime soon, but you find yourself having to make some changes to the external façade of your home, and you’re wondering what you can invest in that will pay dividends in the future if you do end up selling your home. What you do to your home’s exterior can have a great impact on the value of the house when you sell it. More than that, though, you will find that greater curb appeal can make it much easier to showcase your house to interested parties. Furthermore, depending on how old your home is and how long it has been since you had windows and doors replaced, you may find that some of these improvements may save money on energy bills and prevent the loss of climate control from your home. Here are the five top exterior improvements for increasing your home’s value.

1. Replace The Front Door

First, on our list is replacing the front door. Depending on how old your front door is, it may be ripe for replacing. There are a couple of benefits to replacing the front door. To begin with, your front door is an important part of the façade of your home, and a good door, one that fits in with your home and the neighborhood, can help to improve the value of your home by making the home look more beautiful from the curb. Then, of course, there’s the fact that for most people who are going to be coming to see your home, they’re going to be walking through that door to see the house you’re selling. The front door is the portal into the home from the outside, and replacing it with an energy efficient door can not only help with the curb appeal but also with saving money on your heating and cooling bills. Check out our door installation services

2. Update Landscaping

Not everyone has a green thumb. Some people cannot manage to keep plants and shrubs growing no matter how hard they try, and for those people, an updated landscape can help to sell their home. A big part of curb appeal is the landscape of your front yard, for most homes. Sure, some homes in cities have little to no yard, but the majority of homes can benefit from updating their landscape. Depending on the sun and the angle which the home faces, updating the landscape and adding trees and shrubs can even cut down on air conditioning bills by providing natural shade. No one wants to buy a house with a browning yard and dying shrubs. An investment in the foliage around your house can go a long way in making your home more desirable.

3. Repaint The House

Yet another investment that impacts the façade of your home, repainting the house and the vinyl of the house can be a great investment with a lot of return for little effort or cost. It’s another investment that improves the curb appeal of the home, and a new coat of paint, or even a new paint color, in keeping with your neighborhood and your environment, can help to bring more attention and higher sale prices. Sometimes, you don’t even need to paint the house; you may just need to pressure wash the outside of your home to give it a fresh look like it was just built. If your house is looking gray and dingy, pressure washing is something that not only will give it a fresher look, but also something that you can do, on your own, in an afternoon.

4. New Windows

If the door is the portal into your homes, the windows are the eyes of your home and provide you with the soul of your interior. Beautiful windows, properly taken care of and with good insulation, are a real asset to the home, and they can not only increase curb appeal but also help you to keep down costs. Energy efficient windows will help you to prevent high heating and cooling bills, and updated window frames and glass can help to improve the home’s ability to hold the climate in and keep the outside climate out. Usually, if you’re going to replace your doors, you will want to consider installing new windows at the same time, especially if you haven’t updated your windows in the last twenty years or so. Check out our Windows and Installation Services

5. Privacy Fence

This is not always a great investment, but if it is done in keeping with the aesthetic of the neighborhood, a privacy fence can be a good investment and can raise the value of your home. An old proverb states that fences make for good neighbors, and a good privacy fence not only makes for good neighbors; it also makes for a nicer home environment and a more liberating feeling to the home. When building your privacy fence, there are two different materials that you should look at; wood, and stone. These two materials have the best rate of return, and honestly, they look the best from the curb. A wood fence is practically an American archetype, after all. Just make sure that, whatever you build, you keep in mind the neighborhood and the character of similar fences throughout it. If you’re looking to invest in your home with an eye toward the future and toward a return on that investment, these projects are going to be great for making sure that you will see that return on investment. They won’t break the bank, either, and can give your home much-needed curb appeal.