The Cool House: Adding value

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Adding value

Walking through the Incorporated Village on a superb Fall Sunday I was struck by the progress that has been made on a few houses. One is in the midst of an attic conversion and new dormers and a cupola have been added since I last walked this street, another has new windows and siding while the third has dramatically changed the entrance with curved stacked stone walls and piers supporting wrought iron lamps. It looks like a million bucks and is rumored to have cost only slightly less than that. I remarked to The Guy that the number of houses on the market seems to be matched by those that are being "pimped" and that maybe when we have weathered the current market meltdown, unclogged the conduits of credit, and allowed the current of finance to flow freely again (yes, we made these up while we were walking) we should think about tarting up the front adding value and a WOW factor with something spectacular like this driveway:


So I have a question for you, no, not how many years will it take to get ourselves out of the economic morass, but rather:
If money were no object, what would you add to the house exterior or yard to boost curb appeal?

2 comments:

Jean Martha said...

I would like to replace wood picket fence I had to take down (it was rotted from one end to the other) last year. I do NOT want a vinyl one. I want wood...

Joanne said...

I would take out our chain link fence and replace it with a taller wooden one. Because our house is on a corner lot, our "back" yard runs along the sidewalk, visible to all.

I'd also tear off our enclosed porches and build new ones that are open, tricking them out with ceiling fans, etc. like one down the street.