Backing onto green space
Generally a genuine premium, and one of the few that holds up over time. No neighbour behind you, an open outlook, and a supply that cannot be increased — every other lot in the community can be built on, this one already has its view protected.
Two cautions. Confirm the land behind is actually protected green space rather than a future phase, which is a common and expensive misunderstanding in newer communities. And walk it at different times: green space can also mean a busy pathway, an off-leash area, or a sports field with floodlights and a parking lot.
Backing onto a road
This one does hurt, and buyers should expect a discount. How much depends entirely on which road. Backing onto a quiet collector with a fence and mature trees is a mild issue. Backing onto a genuine arterial with constant traffic is a permanent one, affecting noise, air quality, whether you can use the yard comfortably, and the pool of buyers when you sell.
The practical test: stand in the backyard at rush hour with your eyes closed. Photographs never capture road noise, and it is the single most common thing buyers say they underestimated.
Corner lots — genuinely both
Corner lots divide buyers, which is why they can be worth more or less depending who is looking.
- In favour — more light, more separation from neighbours, often a larger lot, frequently better access for RV or extra parking, and only one neighbour attached to your fence line.
- Against — substantially more snow to clear, since you own sidewalk on two sides. Less privacy. More traffic past the yard. In some cases a fence you cannot build as high as you would like.
In a city with our winters, the sidewalk-shovelling point is not trivial, and it is the one buyers most often forget until the first heavy snowfall.
Pie-shaped lots
A pie lot widens toward the back, giving a larger rear yard, more separation from the homes behind, and often a more usable outdoor space than the frontage suggests. Generally desirable, and typically priced accordingly when new.
The reverse-pie — wide at the front, narrowing at the back — is the one to notice. It can look generous from the street and deliver a surprisingly small usable yard.
Everything about a house can be changed except its lot, its orientation and what is around it. That is the part worth being fussy about, and the part buyers most often concede in order to get a nicer kitchen.