I'll say first, that this isn't a question about DIY, but more about the idea and whether we should go through with it.
We bought our first house last year, and in the Spring this year, we are planning some exterior work. The front (first-floor) of the house is wooden (T1-11 or something like that), the second-story is wooden (more similar to vinyl in the horizontal plank-approach) and the rest of the house is stucco.
Our idea, right now, is to have the second-story, sides, and back of the house done in vinyl, but do the front of the first-story in brick (real brick, I should add).
The house is going on 40 years old, is it worth it to go this route? The other houses in the neighborhood are very similar to what we want, not what we have, so we wouldn't be going above-and-beyond the neighborhood. Will it actually add value to the house to go with brick? We're pretty set on the vinyl around the rest of the house, but is the brick worth it? I'm not concerned (too much) about the extra cost of the brick, as long as it adds some value to the house in the end.