Question on Lease Options

[Marc Glass]

Hello, I am new to BP and still sitting on the sidelines in the world of REI. I am eager, however, to get in the game and want to do it carefully and responsibly. I currently have the home that my family and I live in under a lease with a non-investor landlord. He had the house up for sale and due to it being over-priced for its condition, it did not sell. I approached him about leasing the home and he agreed and we have now been living in the place for around one month. I am considering speaking to the landlord and asking if we can add an option agreement to our lease for a certain purchase price one year from now. We have already made minor improvements to the house (paint, some landscaping) and I would like to make more. My question is this: if I were to get the property under an option agreement, is there still a downside to doing drastic improvements to the house before actually purchasing it? I have run the numbers on the house and if I can get it at the right price and make the appropriate improvements (new roof, new kitchen, add second bath) it will produce a nice profit. However, I don't know if it is too risky to make such improvements under only a lease-option agreement.