Whenever I am approaching a home improvement project I think about from a couple different perspectives. First and foremost I think about it from the home owner perspective. I mean if it is my house then obviously I want to do improvements to the home that I will be able to enjoy fully. The other perspective that I try to think about is the investor perspective. The simple truth is that my house is not just a place for me to live, it is also an asset that will ideally appreciate over time. My home improvements should take that into account.
So how does this practically play out in real life? Well first you should look at improvements that will both be practical for enhancing your lifestyle while at the same time making your home more desirable on the open market thereby increasing the value of the home. For most people the low hanging fruit that they can tackle in this regard is going to be the landscaping.
When landscaping your home always start with the front yard. By doing so you will be making it more aesthetically pleasing to live in, while at the same time increasing the curb appeal which will pay off big time when the house's value is being assessed. When you landscape your front yard keep in mind that if you have too many plants it may give the impression that the yard is difficult to care for which could turn off a lot of buyers. Of course you need to consider yourself first and landscape it in such a way that you will find most pleasing.
After the front yard is finished then you should move onto the backyard. Once again you should approach this from the perspective of a home owner and investor. What projects in the backyard should you tackle first that will give you the greatest bang for your buck? To a large extent this depends on the community where you live, but there is one thing that pretty much everyone wants in a backyard. Privacy.
If your backyard has very little privacy then that should be your number one concern as far as improving it goes. You can do this with a fence and intelligently placed screening plants. For example you can easily screen out a neighbor who has a home that overlooks your backyard by using clumping bamboo planted into pots and placed in such away that they are directly in front of the neighbors window. Other good plants to use for this include Seaberry, hedges and to a certain extent some trees.
Once you have updated the landscaping then you should take a look at the following parts of your home: The kitchen, bathroom and master bedroom.
By giving those areas in your homes some very basic renovations you will be able to drastically increase the value of your home which will make it easier to sell if you ever decide, or will give you equity to tap into if you ever need it.