Before spending $100K on exterior improvements I would concentrate on the landscaping (which is basically MIA). Am I correct that all the siding is metal? If it is wood, or can be painted that would also go a long way. Our home was transformed when we painted the light gray siding Benjamin Moore Iron Mountain, which is a warm charcoal gray. A new door wouldn't hurt either...

Yes, it definitely needs landscaping. All metal siding. Not sure if you can paint that.

I agree with Denita...I would keep the contemporary feel of the house...A porch and shingles wouldn't work in that case.

I do kind of like the vertical look of the existing siding and if you don't have to replace it yet, then absolutely paint it and put the money toward central air...

ETA: for future ideas...

Keep the landscaping simple but dramatic...(expensive, but start with a plan and implement it in stages.)

Dont forget a wow front door color...like the citrus green above.

This one below is more traditional. What style do you prefer for your home?

Summit Colonial III · Еще

Upper Saddle River Garrison Colonial · Еще

^Another style that may work for you

You can paint metal siding because that is what is on my house, that we purchased 3 years ago. We had our house professionally painted and landscaped 2 summers ago and it was money well spent! We had zero curb appeal since the entire house, including the trim, was painted in flat white paint (boring) and there were no flowers beds, only a huge over grown ugly shrub and some ugly flowers planted along one wall of the house, no garden. I also suggest fresh paint and beautiful landscaping. After you do that, you may not have to do much more, unless you want to add a pergola or porch to the house. I also suggest getting rid of the window A/C units and have a new HVAC system installed (we did that last summer).

Landscaping would be ahuge improvement, get proper air conditioning. I have no idea what the things are beside each side of the door. You need a wakway from the street to the door and a new door if what we see is your front door. I think if you go in a more contemporary direction the steel siding would work. I would do a balconey from yhe main living space something like this

We were thinking about taking it in a more traditional direction since it's in a rural setting, but there may be more options if we stick with a contemporary look. I definitely like the idea of putting money into HVAC. Some windows are missing, so we thought that we would just do the siding if we have to replace windows anyway. Maybe not?

If you are able to replace the siding, I say go for it! It would have been too expensive for us and that's why we chose to have our house painted.

There's nothing more striking than a modern home in a rural setting, but I totally get it if you simply don't care for contemporary....

This house is clearly going to cost in what you're wanting to do, though, (especially if you want full on traditional) so you'll need a good plan ahead of time.

What color would you paint the metal siding?

I would choose a paint color that you and your family really loves. Before having my house painted, I spent hours on Behr's website, since I had my house painted with Behr Marquee paint, looking at different colors that would look good with my green roof, stone on the front of the house, and red brick chimney, Once I found 3 colors that I liked, I made sure my husband was on board too and ordered samples of all 3 colors. Once the samples arrived, I painted small sections towards the back of my house so that I could see all 3 colors in the sunlight and when it was cloudy as well. That's the best way to choose paint colors, IMO! It saves you time and money.

is that the front door? with the shed cabinet next to it?

I'd paint it, add some of the horizontal wood siding for visual appeal.

But, you will need new windows all the way around. those look like original aluminum. you also need a new front door. and all the landscaping (w/some hardscape that lets you know this is the front). new HVAC.

If it's in a good spot and you like the inside, and the price is good, then the outside is an easy fix if you have the finances. Windows and HVAC can total 20K without blinking an eye. perhaps take that into consideration when making an offer.

Yep. Front door with shed next to it. The house is a considerable amount less than others we've looked at, so we're willing to put some money into making it not so ugly. I like the horizontal wood siding idea. Would you do it across the entire lower part of the house?

So do you want traditional or contemporary?

tons of ideas. depends how modern looking you want.

if possible, enlarge the front door opening.

This one is a nice mix of the two. I'd do something along this line, using the natural wood siding. you could do vertical or horizontal on the top or the bottom.

We were thinking traditional, but contemporary is more our style and seems to have more possibilities.

Well, have an inspection to get the lowdown, first. Then, if it's a go, make an offer if there's not any glaring problems (take into account how long it's been on the market...)

Then put the money into making it efficient and livable. In the mean time, collect pictures of houses that appeal to you and you'll start to see a pattern in what you love. You won't be able to duplicate most likely, but you can aim for a similar feel to what you like.

Landscaping is important, but in my opinion, that would be last. Don't forget exterior lighting.....it can make a contemporary/modern house.

I think the size and location of the windows is going to be a problem if you want a traditional look. It’s going to be expensive to relocate them to be more symmetrical, and may be impossible due to locations of interior walls, etc.

some ideas:

Depending on how much lower they are then similiar homes I would try and talk them down more. My house was marked 20% lower then similiar spec homes but needed a full gut. The roof came back as having 1 year left of life so I got them down another 10k. Never hurts to try especially when needing new hvac system and I'm guessing a lot of interior work as well.

Back on topic...I like the modern look for it!

Thanks for all of the feedback. You've given us a lot to think about!

I don't think the problem is siding. I think it's edges & details. I wouldn't make the porch long in front of the house as that makes nice landscaping more difficult. Consider a squarish porch.

Leave the siding...zero maintenance there. Add some wood interest as in an above post...LANDSCAPE. Lose the window a/c, get an HVAC contractor to bid a mini-split system. What part of the country are you in? Climate?

The house needs a 'face' maybe something like this.

It needs AC. If the house has radiant baseboard heat that makes things way more complicated because you need a SpacePak unit to provide AC $10 15k

I was reading all the comments above and I agree with getting rid of the window a/c units and installing a central hvac system...this may be a consideration when putting in your purchase offer. The front door needs to be the central focal point for the home. I don't know what style you like, but I love the modern pics others have provided. This could be a beautiful home; before submitting your offer, check out the infrastructure...insulation, hvac, plumbing, electrical, etc. Where's the garage? Best of luck.

We are in the Seattle area where the summers are getting hotter, but we still only need AC for a month or two during the summer. It is not historically common for houses to have AC around here, but we have been considering it more every year. We'd likely remove the window units when the weather cools and invest in AC before next summer. Yes on a new 'face' and landscaping for sure. We'd like some type of porch or overhang to keep the entry dry when the rain comes. The front door is on the north side of the house, but we may end up entering on the west side where there is a bit of an overhang already that we're considering turning into more of a carport. Garage is detached building.

Buying a new home is always so exciting!! Please let us know if it pans out for you (and maybe remove the pic if it's a listing photo...just my opinion on that though)

As far as the AC goes, we're originally from New York State and had a house built there. No a/c and we used window units for the month we needed them. More and more people were adding central though...

As I said, get a great inspector and use his knowledge ;)

Good luck!! It looks like a beautiful piece of property...

Totally agree with those saying to focus on landscaping first including some outdoor lighting. Then I would revisit these other cosmetic improvements. A fresh coat of paint can do wonders!