Many home buyers pin their hopes on their home escalating in value due to a combination of inflation, upward neighborhood trajectory, luck, etc. Others create upside at the time of purchase via their plans to invest and improve, renovate and rebuild. Which is more reliable?

I have always believed that the most reliable "anything" in life is that which you contribute to. I much prefer building or renovating than buying something fully done-done, although I fully understand the value in doing so and paying a premium for it. This applies to the desire to create real, tangible, almost guaranteed upside. I have always found an advantage in seeing things others don't, rather than relying on market conditions driving up value.

These days, being creative and seeing the future is made much easier, cheaper, and much faster with a.i. visual generating tools. This past weekend, I visualized a kitchen using a.i. that might have cost tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours with a designer. Envisioning the future in that which you have some control over is the key to my confidence in creating value.