Buying the most expensive house in the neighborhood is not always the best strategy. Buyers may have bragging rights but challenges during resale. When owning the nicest home on the block if you perform upgrades you may doing a larger mismatch between your home and surrounding homes. If you are looking at a home for investment it make sense to look at a home with room for improvements as a way to build equity and even pay it off when it does sell. Experts say and recommend that buying the worst house in the neighborhood is the best strategy because you can add value on your own. Recurring maintenance, refreshing paint and making minor repairs the previous owner ignored adds instant value. The rule now is if choosing between an awful house in a good neighborhood or a nice house in a fair neighborhood, choose the former. If you put in the sweat equity you can have an investment.