I am currently sitting on my front steps trying to pry a piece of rusted metal landscape edging out of the dirt. I have mud under my fingernails and I am staring at a front door that desperately needs a third coat of paint. This is basically my entire weekend routine.
The Outside Problem People will easily spend ten thousand dollars renovating a kitchen and completely ignore the rotting wood on their front porch. I bought this house three years ago and the previous owners had let massive overgrown bushes completely swallow the front window. The very first thing I did was tie a heavy tow strap to the roots and pull them out with my car. The neighbors stared at me but the house instantly looked ten years younger.
Paint and Concrete I do not do interior framing or mess with drywall. I focus completely on the outside of the house. I test different brands of exterior masonry paint on old brick and figure out how to repair cracked concrete steps without pouring a completely new walkway. I pressure wash everything. I have stripped peeling paint off aluminum siding and replaced terrible vinyl house numbers with actual heavy metal ones.
I write down what works and what flakes off after a single winter. You will find a lot of strong opinions here about exterior lighting and why you should never paint a concrete porch pure white.
I am still trying to find a decent metal mailbox that does not cost three hundred dollars.