Cheap ways to increase home values: Start with the exterior

1. Care for your front landscape

Mowing your lawn weekly, combined with seasonal shrub and tree pruning, will go a long way to make your home look cared for. Cost of weekly lawn mowing: $65–$100. Cost of seasonal tree and shrub removal: $25–$150 per plant.

2. Mulch at the start and end of the season

Mulch is a protective layer of material placed on top of the soil and around a plant or tree. Mulch serves a variety of purposes to help your landscape, like helping retain moisture and reduce your water bill, releasing nutrients into the soil to help your plants stay healthy, stop weeds from growing, and protecting plants from high and low temperatures. Cost of 2 cubic feet of mulch: less than $5.

3. Plant native perennials

To help keep costs low, choose native perennials that will come back year after year.

Native plants require less maintenance, water, and fertilizer than non-native plants. When you choose flowering perennials, stagger the blooming periods so you can have flowers and visual interest through spring, summer, and fall seasons.

If you choose non-flowering perennials, consider how the foliage can bring interest to your landscape through the changing seasons. Expect to pay $10-25 per plant and trees starting at $100.

4. Paint your front door, or one wall on your front elevation

Jake Merelli, co-owner of Property Pros, Inc., likes to talk about the quick improvement that paint color can bring to any area of your home. According to Reader’s Digest, painting your front door jet black or charcoal can make your home sell for more money.

5. Power-wash your fence

Forget about the cost of prepping and painting a fence. Power washing alone can be an affordable but huge difference-maker for your fencing. A gallon of premium exterior paint will cost around $40.

6. Stain and seal your fence

Over time, fence finishes can fade away, especially on west- and south-facing fencing. Staining and sealing your fence is a weekend project that you can complete with minimal tools and preparation. Five gallons of premium cedar stain will cost around $200.

7. Replace broken rails and posts

Instead of tackling a full fence replacement, identify the individual rails and posts that need to be replaced. Individual cedar pickets will cost around $5 each.

8. Install solar lights

Upgrade your entire front yard by installing solar-powered lights.

You can purchase a dozen for less than $40 and instantly elevate your walkway with absolutely no electrical work involved. Check your product to ensure that it will withstand minimum and maximum temperatures in your area.

9. Plant a tree

Most plant nurseries are happy to provide exact guidance on the perfect kind of tree for the space. Bring a picture of your yard, and visit during a weekday so the arborist has time to answer your questions. To further increase the affordability of this improvement, ask about coupons or offers that apply to your selected trees.

Nursery employees are happy to either deliver trees or help you load the tree, and they typically guarantee their trees and shrubs for 12 months. You can ask for exact directions on how to plant, stake, and water your tree to ensure you’re successful. Don’t forget to call 811 before you dig, and also remember to ask your HOA for any guidelines on size, placement, or variety of trees allowed. Trees start at $100, depending on size and variety.

10. Power-wash your home

A small power washer can be used to clean your driveway, pathways, garage door, and walls to brighten the entire curb appeal.