First Investment - Best Value Add Opportunities?

[Cole Agner]

Hi everybody,

A few months ago, I just purchased my first property (yay me), which I'm working to house-hack at the moment. One thing I wanted to do was to get some advice on opportunities that would add the most value to the home as I'll be looking to refinance after making a few updates.

Since I'm a little unfamiliar with what would give me the most "bang for my buck", I figured it'd be worth it to share my Zillow rental post, give my thoughts to you guys, and see what you all come up with since I'm a day one newbie here...

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/698-Bridal-Ave-Jacksonville-FL-32205/316819570_zpid/?view=public
It's a 3 bed 2 bath house, almost 100 years old, and the seller made a bunch of updates to the house (fixed roofing, foundation, re-ran electrical wiring, redid flooring, and interior paint) prior to me moving in.

So far, I've added a dishwasher to the place, and here are my thoughts as far as other "value adds" go, but I don't want to invest the money if you guys and gals don't think there's much opportunity for a return on it... I've got about $10k I'm willing to spend, and here's what I've come up with as far as updates go:

- Add shelving for grocery storage - there's very little today

- Rehab the front porch (you can feel the plywood sink in places as you walk over it)

- Repaint the outside of the house (paint is peeling)

- Add a fence for the back yard

- Add a back door (there's only one entrance/exit to the house)
- Pave the driveway on both sides of the tree out front
- Add exterior lights to the side and back of house

- Update kitchen counters (granite?) & new stove

Again, I'm sure some of you are screaming at your computer at this point, but I'm open to criticism and what you think would be the best value adds.

Thank you!