I will preface this by saying I know nothing about the real estate market in Apex, NC, but off the top of my head, a 2,400 sq ft house that only has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths has a lot of wasted space somewhere. Several years ago, my mom, a widow at the time, bought a major fixer upper. It was an all brick house in an up-and-coming part of the city (major US city) and the only thing it had going for it was its location (which is obviously something you cannot change). We all thought she was completely nuts, but for whatever reason she fell in love with the house. She didn't move any walls or add any additional square footage but basically tore nearly everything down to the studs. Everywhere she turned, it was one problem after the next. She budgeted around $75K for all the wanted to do (including finishing the basement) and in the end (about 2 years later) her total came closer to $150K. Yes, almost double her original budget. Since she worked full time, she hired contractors to do a lot of the work, but she did a lot herself, like painting and tiling. We referred to the house as the money pit. She knew there was likely asbestos (there was, everywhere) but she did not anticipate all the plumbing and electrical needing upgrading. Or the mold issue in the basement. Or the broken sewer pipe in front of the house. I just shook my head every time she'd complain about another issue the contractors found. She wound up selling a few years later. She could only list her house for around $50-60K more than what she paid for it because that's what the market dictated, even though everything was new. In the end she lost nearly $100K. Even though everyone and their mother warned her at the time, she didn't listen and regrets having put that time and money into such a project. My husband and I recently finished our basement. A small remodel based on some of the projects I read on this site. But I would never do it again. We wound up spending maybe $15K more than I expected (because I didn't account for some of the things we needed to do before actually finishing the basement, like a new sump pump and having the walls sealed). We lived here during the finishing and because the weather is brutally cold, most of the stuff that was originally downstairs is still in the garage and will be dealt with this spring. I'm tired of my house being in disarray. I just want my life back to "normal". My husband is thrilled with the results; I would have rather moved (and tried to convince him to before we started this project, but I was obviously unsuccessful). Bottom line is these kind of major remodels take a lot more time (ours took a month longer) and much more money than you think. Unexpected problems that come up are par for the course. And then there's the problem of overbuilding/over improving for your area. My mom was definitely a victim of that and why she could only list her house for what she did. I'd rather buy a house that had everything I wanted in a heartbeat. I wouldn't even give a fixer upper a second look.

Your stone is a beautiful color. I would not paint it. You should consider painting the rest of the house as well as the garage door. The posts on your porch need a bit of beefing up. Can you replace the posts with cedar or have them wrapped in wood? Find a color that you like in the stone face and paint the house that color. Then you have a starting point to look for an accent color to paint the trim and the shutters. Also, changing the light fixtures would give this house a needed update. Something with straighter lines would work better with your architecture.

I think a re-work of the shrubbery and hedge right of the round post is in order, along with removal of the shutters on the triple window if there is no variation in the brick color behind them. Have you considered replacing the trim shutters with some that at least appear as though they could actually function and close over the windows? Enlarge all exterior lantern lights to be 1/3 of the front door's height. Match garage door color to stucco or siding. If stucco is in good shape just keep it. You might match the column to the wall on the other side of the porch. Black or white both seem a bit stark to me. Does your gas pole light work? Sometimes I think capping those off and removing them is a better look. Is there another tree further out in the yard, more or less aligned with the triple window? You might consider planting an ornamental there.

A simple fix to your Craftman style house is to first remove the awnings (they camouflage the house - look into indoor blinds or solar shades). Enlarge the window frames and remove siding from the columns and recover in white (wood or other building material). Install a new front door (paint a pop colour you like) and paint the window surrounds in black with white trim, and all trim on the house in white. From the picture I can't tell what colour the siding is but a light grey or a greige would be nice with the stone and white trim with black accent windows. I also suggest you powerwash the stone. Work on the landscaping to give your house more curb appeal.