Vash, It's like the old TV commercial:
"Pay me now, or pay me later"
With several houses and a few of them being older, I KNOW better than to get behind on maintenance. When it comes to exterior paint, I will NOT skimp on quality paint...most of the effort (and $) is in the prep/labor (though I do MOST labor myself). It ain't cheap (around $50/gal) but I won't use anything but Sherwin Williams Duration for exterior paint. Another tip...for minor repairs, etc. Bondo (yep, the car stuff) is awesome....
Bondo + car = Bad
Bondo + minor rot repair = Excellent
I'm just an amateur and the experts can chime in if they don't agree (or there is something even better)
edited: Oops...I hadn't clicked on your link before I posted Look....I see a "pro" has already chimed in....