You don’t want your home to be radically different in size, style, or features from other homes in your neighborhood. You want your home to fit the neighborhood, not stand out like a sore thumb.

If your home, for whatever reason, is below the prevailing neighborhood norms, then bringing it up to par will yield you a good return. The reason, quite simply, is that a subpar house will bring a reduced value anytime you try to resell. Bring that house up to par and you automatically raise its value to neighborhood norms. On the other hand, going beyond the norms of the neighborhood is, again, overrenovating. You won’t get your money back.

For example, if all the homes in the neighborhood have two bath¬rooms and yours has one, spending $20,000 for another bathroom should pay for itself.

On the other hand, if all the homes in your area are 1500 square feet and you spend $50,000 making yours 2000 square feet, you simply won’t get your money back. You will have exceeded the neighborhood norms.

I once was asked to sell a renovated, two-story home in a neighborhood where all the surrounding homes were single story. Yes, the renovation nearly doubled the space in the home, and the job was done very well. But buyers didn’t want to pay the money the sellers were asking for the larger home because the neighborhood didn’t justify it. (For the higher price, buyers would rather move to a better neighborhood!) The sellers never could recoup the money they had spent.

Beware of white elephant syndrome. Never over-improve the home for the neighborhood. If you’re in a $150,000 neighborhood and do a $25,000 kitchen renovation, chances are you won’t get very much of your money back. On the other hand, if you’re in a $400,000 neighborhood and do a $25,000 kitchen renovation, you might be underspending! Keep your eye on the big picture, not just the renovation of the moment.

Ask your neighbors. Yes, you can bring contractors in for estimates, but that tells you only costs, not what the neighborhood norms are. Maybe all the houses in your area have small kitchens and many neighbors have renovated by enlarging their kitchen. The bigger kitchen has become a neighborhood norm, and enlarging your kitchen should fit right in—and allow you to recoup your investment.