Reminds me of the tale of the guy who was told by his realtor that he could put $20k in new windows and sell the house for $50k more. He did and it sold, and was immediately torn down.
Been renovating an old house with a large garden for almost ten years now. I tell myself this is better than building something from scratch, but it definitely doesn't always feel more efficient. It helps that I didn't have the option back then, but now maybe I do? Sometimes it's also hard to tell, in the moment, which things to keep and what to rip out.