Although her grass definitely needs a cutting, this woman appears happy with her home. But, is she happy because it's a great home, or happy because she knows its value is rising and one day she'll make a bundle? (It could be both of course.)

I ask this question because not only is a home the most expensive thing most of us will ever buy, but it's also the only thing I can think of that is useful both for its inherent purpose (shelter) and its investment value (most things depreciate, a home appreciates).

However, this often creates an unfortunate conundrum. How much should you think about the resale value of your house when you originally buy it, as well as when you decide whether or not to make improvements, and which improvements to make?

I've owned three homes. The first two were in areas that where home values were moving up steadily. In neither case did we buy the home thinking about its resale value--we bought them because we liked them, we could afford them, and they fit where we wanted to live.

But before buying our present home, we put a lot of thought into the resale value. It's a more expensive home than we've ever owned and it's in an area that we like but is certainly not a real estate hot spot. We had to think long and hard about it. To buy in a place with a more promising resale market would have meant we got less home for our money. The schools aren't as good here as in other local districts, and we have two kids almost of school age. It would be a tradeoff either way, and we went for the bigger house in what might be the less "desirable" area.

No regrets about the house, but then again we haven't tried to sell it. Will we be kicking ourselves at some point in the future if we decide to sell and our return is disappointing? Or will we console ourselves with the fact that we loved living in the house, regardless of how many actual dollars it makes for us?

Real estate experts will tell you that one of the worst things you can do for resale is to put in an inground swimming pool, and of course it's a worse idea in certain parts of the country than others. But what if you really, really want an inground swimming pool? What if you've always dreamed of relaxing by that pool, a symbol of your life success? You gonna give up that dream to ensure greater resale value at some unknown point in the future? Should you?

There are plenty of questions like this, such as how much should you improve a house if you live in an area that you know will never allow you to get that money back in resale? And, if you know you won't get it back, should you move? Not do the improvements? Or do them anyway and accept they are for your enjoyment without a monetary payoff?

Everyone's answers to these questions are different. What amounts to savvy personal finance in owning a home may not always jibe with what gives you happiness while living in that home, and deciding how to balance out these potentially conflicting goals is something no one else can do for you.