What a landscape designer notices on a showing

Most Calgary home buying tips start inside the house, with the kitchen, the layout and the number of bedrooms. Mine start with the land.

Before real estate, I worked in horticulture and landscape design. It taught me to look at a property in a particular order: the land, the light, the view, and then how the home will feel to live in.

The house can be changed, but the land mostly can't. So this is what I notice on a showing, usually before I have opened the front door.

Orientation and where the light falls

The first question is the compass. Which way does the back of the house face, and where will the sun be at the hours you most want it?

In Calgary, a garden that faces south gets sun through most of the day, and one that faces west catches the long evening light of summer. One that faces north can spend much of the year in the shadow of the house, and snow tends to linger there well into spring.

The seasons change the answer, too. A backyard that is bright in June can sit in shade by October, when the sun stays low, so I try to picture a garden in more than one season.

Light inside follows the same logic. I want to know which rooms get the morning, which get the afternoon, and how much light reaches the living room at four in the afternoon in winter. North light is soft and even, which some people love in a studio or a study.

Then I look at what stands between the house and the sun. A tall house next door, a stand of spruce or a slope that rises to the south can take a lot of light from a room that looked bright in the photos.

Wind matters too. On an open acreage, knowing where the wind and the evening light come from tells you where you will sit outside comfortably, and where a row of trees would make the biggest difference.

The answers rarely make a beautiful listing photo. They make a good decision.

Drainage, slope and soil: land tips for Calgary home buyers

Water always finds its way, so I want to know where it goes. The ground should fall away from the house, not toward it, and the downspouts should send water somewhere useful.

Walk the lot and look for low spots where water could gather. During the spring melt or after a heavy rain, a lot tells you the truth: puddles that stay for days, soft ground by the foundation or a damp smell in the basement are all worth a closer look.

Check any retaining walls as well. A wall that leans, cracks or bulges is holding back more than it was built for, and replacing one is rarely a small job.

Soil is quieter, but it shapes everything you might want to grow. Heavy clay holds water and can be hard on roots, while thin or compacted soil makes a new garden slow to settle in.

A simple question helps: what has grown well here, and what has struggled? The answer tells you a lot about the soil, the light and the work ahead.

On an acreage, the land is most of what you are buying. Slope and drainage decide where you can build, where a driveway will ice over and what a wet spring will do to the lowest corner of the property.

That is why my advice on acreages begins outside, with zoning, services and the land itself, before we ever talk about the kitchen. The land is the part that will still be there when every room has been redone.

Mature trees as an asset or a cost

A mature tree is one of the few things money cannot hurry. It can give a home shade, privacy, shelter from the wind and a sense of permanence that a new garden takes many years to earn.

It can also be a cost. I look at where the tree stands in relation to the roof, the foundation and the underground pipes, whether it looks healthy, and who will care for it.

A tree in decline over a roof is a future bill. Some trees with thirsty roots, planted too close to a house, can cause trouble underground, where no one sees it until it is expensive.

When a large tree matters to the decision, an arborist's opinion before you buy is money well spent. And remember the trees next door, because a neighbour's tree can bring shade you love or shade you did not plan for.

Young trees count too, in a different way. A young tree in the right place is a gift to the next owner, and one in the wrong place is a problem that grows a little every year.

The shrubs and beds tell their own story. A garden that has been pruned and tended usually belongs to a home that has been looked after in other ways, and a neglected one is worth a second look indoors.

None of this appears in an online estimate. Yet a healthy, beautiful tree can change how a home feels, and how buyers see it when you sell.

How the outside changes the way a home feels

The outside decides how the inside feels. A kitchen that looks onto a garden feels larger than one that looks onto a fence, and a living room with a view of trees feels calmer, even in January.

So I pay attention to what you will see from the places you spend the most time: the kitchen sink, the dining table, the chair where you read. Those views are part of the home, even if they never appear in the square footage.

The garden is also a room. On a summer evening it may be the room you use most, and its size, shape and shelter matter as much as any space inside.

Sound and privacy belong here too. A garden that faces a busy road, or a deck every neighbour can see into, will shape how often you actually use them.

Then there is the way you arrive. The path to the front door, the light at dusk and the first thing you see all set the tone before anyone steps inside. In winter it is also where you carry the groceries over the ice, so look at the slope and the lighting there too.

When clients sell, a welcoming entrance and a garden that looks cared for are among the improvements that tend to pay off. Buyers feel the outside before they see the inside, even if they never say so.

Land, light, view and feeling. A house can be renovated, but those four mostly stay as they are, and they deserve your attention first.