What about that master bath you want to put in by taking out the linen closet and 1/3 of the next bedroom?

You love the house.  You got a good deal on it. Its got good bones, a good location, and with a little love, it’ll be perfect. So, you buy the house and go to town.  You clean, paint, landscape, purchase some new appliances, sand the floors and put in a new hot water heater in the first six months.

The house is great, you still love it. In fact, you love it even more now that it’s starting to look even better. But the kitchen. Yeah. the kitchen needs to be bigger. Bigger and better. The problem is that after you gut the kitchen and take down that wall to open it up to the rest of the house a little more, you’re starting to spend money that the current real estate market can’t recoup. Is that a problem?

Here’s the deal, it’s your house. You live in that house, day in and day out and you’re the one who is going to be using that kitchen 365 days a year. If you have the money, genuinely plan to live in the house for many more years and if you inherently understand and have come to terms with the idea that if you have to sell the house before the local market catches up to your kitchen rehab you won’t get the money back that you spent on it, then it’s OK to over-improve your house.

Its never easy to lose money or to throw money away, so be smart about your rehab. If you’re informed and aware of what you’re doing but you really want to do it anyway, do it.  Don’t expect the next guy to pay for it though. He won’t cover your indulgences.

When you do have to sell your house and it’s priced competively with similar homes in the neighborhood except that it’s the one with the killer kitchen, and half-bath/mudroom addition that the others don’t have, your house will sell quicker, and you’ll recoup some of that lost money.  The best part is that you’ve enjoyed these updates the entire time you’ve lived in the home. That’s worth a lot .

My advice, for what it’s worth:

• Don’t do anything until you’ve lived in the house for 6 months to a year and gotten to know it better and how you live in it.
• Be smart about rehabs, be savvy about prices and always consider whether you could do at least parts of the  job to save money and get the satisfaction that comes from working on your Columbus home of character.
• On the flip side, all the character in the world doesn’t mean a thing if you hurt yourself or create more work for a professional to do that’ll end up costing even more. Know when to ask for help.