"Really? They must've spent another thousand pounds on that? I mean we like the place well enough but they're kidding themselves if they think they're getting their money back on whatever they spent on that skylight / fireplace / waterfall / bedroom spa unit..."I'm not thinking about the feature that was obviously installed because the vendors thought that they'd enjoy the use of it but rather that addition they made because of a transparent thought that it would increase the resale value*. By definition this incremental spend as an investment: something that will return them more money than they laid out. If they don't get that additional return then they've overinvested.
There's a parallel with my sort of knowledge work. When I have too much time on my hands I'm in danger of devoting more attention to a project than it warrants. Sometimes I'm guilty of devoting more attention to a project than it can bear. In either case I'm guilty of overinvestment,
"Really? He must've spent another couple of extra days on that? I mean we like the concept well enough but he's kidding himself if he thinks we're going to pay extra for however long he spent on those new graphics / additional background research..."If my time is worth something when I'm busy then it's worth something when I'm not. Allowing that figure to shift is crazy. If I have spare time on my hands then it shouldn't be devoted to my client's goals but rather my own.
* A good rule to remember when selling a house or flat is that you're never going to guess the shade of blue the buyer wants so either paint the wall white or leave it as is
