It's easy to let months go by and never proactively have a look at the exterior of our homes to see if anything is amiss. The weather is great right now, so I suggest you set aside an hour or two to give your residence a visual once-over.  If you can do this twice a year, at least, you'll have a far better chance of correcting any problems while they're still small. 

What should you look for?

Outside, check under the eaves of your house to see if there are any brewing issues like wasp nests, water damage or leaks from the roof.  Does the wood appear to be warping, softening, or showing any unusual bulges or discoloration?  (If yes, consider contacting a roofer or pest control operator.)

How are the gutters?  Peeling paint can allow rust to happen and shorten the life of the gutters.  Keep the gutters free of debris.  RustOLeum may help extend the life of your gutters and comes in a wide variety of colors (and is findable at your local hardware store).

Step back from the house to get a view of your roof. It needs to be free of debris; if you have large trees nearby this may be an ongoing challenge!  Having pine needles, leaves, etc. accumulate on the roof can cause moisture to be trapped on the roof and accelerate aging, invite moisture problems like fungus and dry rot, and possibly induce leaks.   If it's a cedar shake roof, are the shingles beginning to curl or split? For any type of roof, when was it last inspected?  If your roof is more than three or four years old, it probably needs some "tune up" work done - small repairs that will keep water from getting into your home.  A licensed, referred roofer can do small tune ups on the roof for a few hundred dollars and prevent problems from arising.  Plan to have it looked at by a professional every few years and it will last much longer!

Now focus on the chimney cap.  Do you have a spark arrestor and rain cap? If not, you need one. (I wrote about this on my other blog site: What’s on your chimney?)

While you're at a distance from your house, study your garage door frame.  Does it look straight?  Many people overload the garage rafters with heavy items, causing a sag to appear.  Hopefully you don't find the top of the garage door frame out of alignment!  (Make sure to keep only very light items like empty moving boxes at the top of your garage unless the home has been modified for extra weight.)

Check all windows and doors and their frames for any gaps, leaks, or damage.

Check all vents (attic vents and crawl space vents) for tears or openings.  You don't want nature to roost in your home's attic or crawl space! While you're checking vents, also check your dryer vent. Lint buildup can and does cause fires.

Finally,  check the perimeter of your home and grading of the soil next to it.  The soil should be a few inches below any vents and the grading go down from your house out toward the fence or street - it should cause any water (as in rain or sprinklers) to run away from the house.  You do not want water to move toward the house! Our clay soil is "expansive" and as it moves from dry to wet or wet to dry, the soil expands and contracts. Unfortunately, the soil is a lot stronger than a concrete foundation so the end result of the movement can be a cracked foundation.

Likewise, downspouts need to carry the water away from the home and when it's the rainy season, they should be extended several feet away from the house to prevent water eeking into the crawlspace. Water intrusion into the crawl space also invites problems like termites, fungus, mold, dry rot.  In other words, nothing good comes from having water under the house, so don't let it!