Improving Your House? Beware Not to Over-Improve

Greenville loves a good home glow-up. New countertops, smarter layouts, backyard upgrades—there’s something addictive about making a house feel more like the life you want. In this episode of Selling Greenville, the host digs into a common blind spot: how easily well-intentioned updates can slide into over-improving, leaving owners with beautiful features that the market simply won’t pay back.

He records amid real life—kids due home any minute, a puppy chewing audibly, and planes roaring overhead near the airport—and gets practical about expectations. Home improvement TV, glossy magazines, and neighbor-to-neighbor lore often suggest that every project “adds value.” But as he explains, the numbers (and appraisals) tell a more nuanced story. Some changes can elevate the entire home; others are lovely but don’t move the market enough to justify the expense. The trick is knowing the difference before you start writing checks.

Over-Improve Your House

The central theme is simple: over-improve your house. That doesn’t mean avoiding upgrades. It means understanding when and where improvements actually increase market value—and when they mainly increase your day-to-day enjoyment.

What most people misunderstand

According to the episode, the average project doesn’t return a full dollar for each dollar spent. He points listeners to common research showing many “best” projects averaging in the rough 90% ROI range—about ninety cents on the dollar—while also noting a key nuance: some upgrades can boost the whole home’s appeal (and value) beyond their line-item cost. A new kitchen in an otherwise great house or a layout fix that transforms flow can lift everything, not just the space you touched.

When improvements “pay” beyond themselves

• Functional layout changes: Removing a wall or correcting a clumsy floor plan can make the entire home feel different.

• A truly outlier eyesore: If one room is dragging down everything else, curing that one issue can raise the perceived value of the whole property.

Even then, context matters. The neighborhood sets guardrails on what buyers are willing to pay—no matter how nice your finishes are.

How Over-Improving Happens

Over-improvement shows up when upgrades outpace the neighborhood or product type so much that buyers won’t pay a true premium for them.

The small example: countertop creep

In a community where builder-grade granite is the norm, swapping to high-end quartz may look and feel fantastic. But will buyers pay an extra $10,000 just for that? As the host puts it, probably not. Nice to have? Yes. Value rocket? No—unless that change is part of a larger transformation that elevates the whole home.

The big example: the “$800K in a $400K zip” problem

The episode walks through a thought experiment: buying a dilapidated property in a not-yet-gentrified pocket (he references a rough church structure in Judson) and replacing it with a home that would command $800,000 in Augusta Circle. In that immediate area, it likely wouldn’t bring $800K… or $700K… or even $600K. Locational context and neighboring homes drag it back toward what the market there will bear—potentially half of the pricier neighborhood’s figure. Buyers spending at the top end typically want surrounding homes to match their expectations.

The exception: rapidly gentrifying zones

There are rare corridors—think pockets near Unity Park or certain parts of the West End—where price leaps can outrun yesterday’s comps. But that’s an exception, not the rule, and betting on exceptions is risky.

Production Neighborhoods vs. Custom Homes

This is one of the episode’s most useful distinctions. In production-built neighborhoods (the many upstate communities where one builder delivered rows of similarly finished homes), the market expects a predictable package. Dropping a $200,000 luxury pool oasis or a $20,000 pro appliance suite into a $300K community doesn’t suddenly make the house a $500K–$550K comp. The buyer pool shopping there usually prioritizes bedrooms, square footage, and price point first—then appreciates upgrades as a bonus, not a blank check.

By contrast, custom neighborhoods attract buyers who are explicitly shopping for premium features as part of a premium ecosystem. Appraisers and buyers don’t treat production and custom stock as apples-to-apples, and trying to cross those streams creates appraisal and pricing headaches.

Appraisals: The Cold Splash of Water

Like them or not, appraisals refer to the numbers. The host shares a conversation with an appraiser who explained how major over-improvements are often valued: roughly 30–40% of their cost flows through to appraised value. A $100,000 “wow” addition might only add $30,000–$40,000 on paper.

Two key takeaways:

1. Utility beats novelty. If an upgrade meaningfully changes how the home functions (flow, liveability, usability), value credit is better.

2. “Nice to have” ≠ “market must pay.” Beautiful extras often appraise like beautiful extras—light adjustments, not price leaps.

Ironically, the “boring” stuff can pull more weight per dollar. The episode even nods to simple items (like garage doors) that frequently land near the top of ROI lists. Not flashy—and that’s exactly the point.

Lifestyle ROI vs. Financial ROI

The most balanced part of the episode lands here. Money isn’t the only return. If a new kitchen brings daily joy, if a layout fix turns chaos into calm, if a backyard upgrade pulls family and friends together—those dividends are real, even if the spreadsheet doesn’t show 100%.

The caution is timing. If life forces a move earlier than expected, an expensive joy-first project may not have time to amortize. The host urges listeners to weigh both:

• What’s the likely resale ROI in this neighborhood and product type?

• What’s the lifestyle ROI worth to you if you’ll actually live with it for years?

That balanced lens helps avoid over-improving your house while still living well in it.

Practical Filters Before You Spend

Rooted in the episode’s examples and logic, here’s a decision framework aligned with the discussion:

• Match the neighborhood. Will this upgrade look wildly out of step with nearby homes? If yes, temper expectations.

• Favor function. Does this change fix flow, utility, or livability across the whole house? Those pay back best.

• Know your comp set. Production communities compare to production comps; custom to custom. Don’t expect cross-category paybacks.

• Expect appraisal friction. The more extreme the upgrade, the more likely the appraised value lags the cost.

• Be honest about the timeline. Moving soon? Stick to projects with stronger market ROI. Staying long-term? Lifestyle gains can justify more.

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Bottom Line

Upgrade with intention. In Greenville’s production neighborhoods, ultra-premium features rarely command ultra-premium resale prices. In custom or rapidly changing corridors, the math can shift—but those are narrow lanes and high-risk bets. The smartest path blends context-aware spending (what will the market actually pay for here?) with quality-of-life gains (what will make everyday living genuinely better for you?). Do both well, and you’ll enjoy your home now without handing future buyers a price tag they won’t meet.

Ien Araneta

Journal & Podcast Editor | Selling Greenville