My mom believes firmly in the "good fences make good neighbors" cliche. Me, I’ve never really felt the need for a fence, which is probably a good thing since my property is really too hilly and oddly shaped for a fence.

There are many things you need to consider when deciding what type of fence you will have for your house. Do you need the fence to contain an animal, like a dog? Would you like privacy? Is cost a primary consideration? What about your homeowners’ association rules?

If you have a homeowners association in your neighborhood, you should first check with them for any rules and regulations concerning fencing. In my mom’s neighborhood no chain link fences are allowed and if you have a wooden privacy fence, it must be stained, not left natural.

I don’t have a homeowners association in my neighborhood so any type of fence is allowed. The wooden privacy fences are quite popular in my neighborhood although many people like chain link fences. Personally, I find chain link fences to be quite ugly, although I understand the necessity of them in some cases. If you have an extremely large yard, a wooden or plastic privacy fence may not be even remotely cost-efficient.

If you want to contain your dog but don’t like the look of fencing at all, you may consider an invisible fence. I have a friend who has that. You put up a border around the area you don’t want your dog to leave, and put on their fence collar when you send them outside. If the dog goes outside the area, mild shocks are sent to the dog through the collar. Some especially wily dogs may not care about the shock and will go wherever, so keep that in mind when deciding to purchase an invisible fence.