Spending money on constant improvements is not always the right choice. : The world of real estate investment has been an interest of mine since I was young, spurred in part because of my parent's foray into buying and leasing properties. The lessons I learned as I dove deeper into the world of investment properties revealed to me that it has more than a little in common with my day job running a retail clothing company. When you're trying to turn a profit on an investment property, spending money on some seemingly small upgrades can yield considerable dividends.