Remodeling the exterior of your home is a great way to bring a new lease of life to the property, as well as increasing the market value. If you're thinking of selling your home, you may find some of these tips especially useful, as increasing kerb appeal is reported to be one of the fastest ways to get your home sold, according to realtors. 

If your clothes are scruffy, people will think of you as scruffy. If the outside of your home looks messy to people viewing it, they’ll think the inside is just as bad… maybe even worse. 

Realtors have even reported potential buyers walking away from a viewing without even getting out of the car they arrived in, because of the state of the exterior of the home. 

Let’s take a look at some of the smart choices you could make in your exterior home remodel…

1 - Updating the front door area. 

Front doors have a funny way of showing their own age. Those hung in the 70s have a way of looking as though they were hung in the 70s, and the same can be said for front doors throughout the ages. If your front door hasn't seen an update in a few years (or decades), that's definitely one of the first tweaks you can make. 

But that's not all. 

If your home is off-center because of extensions, conservatories, or other parts that have been added on to the property over the years, certain features that were once in the center, aren’t in the center anymore. This is often the case for front doors. 

Building a porch area - a small, boxed-in space where the front door sits and shoes can be taken off - is a great way to liven up the exterior of your home on a budget. It also helps to make the front door obvious to visitors who don't know the building, such as delivery people, while adding a little extra space. 

2 - Update as much as you can. 

If you can afford to, a full exterior home remodel will offer more value to your home than a few smaller tweaks here and there. If you're remodeling the front door and/or adding a porch, why not consider changing or updating the windows of the property while you're there? Or at least the ones that are surrounding the new front door. 

Alongside windows, why not consider the roof, too? You don't need to replace the entire roof right now, but having it cleaned by a roofing contractor will definitely make the place look fresher and smarter. If your home is surrounded by trees and regularly falls privy to bird droppings, we highly recommend having your roof/roof tiles cleaned on a regular basis, not just to keep kerb appeal up but also to keep you and your household safe from the diseases that birds carry. 

The more money, time, and quality materials you can invest in your exterior home remodel, the better — but you should only go as far as you can reasonably afford. Sit down with your finances and work out what your budget is, and then see how far that money will stretch. Speak to different contractors, get different quotes, and be open-minded about the type of materials or styles you'd like to incorporate. 

3 - Consider smart upgrades. 

If you’re going to all of the hassle of having the exterior cladding of your home changed, you could also consider having extra insulation installed or pumped in at the same time. This is a job that will need to be performed by professionals, but will make the home much warmer in winter, much cooler in summer, and your wallet happier all year ‘round. 

You could also look at other upgrades to your exterior remodeling job, such as adding smart exterior lighting to dissuade burglars and wildlife from the property, or having home camera systems installed for security and protection. You could even change the color of your home's exterior, or have wildlife proofing measures installed, or having the plumbing and guttering changed so that everything flows more efficiently. 

These are all things that can help to increase your home's value, and make it look better and cleaner for those who live inside it.