A yard takes 1-2 years to fixup into shape. Less if you go with the quick and easy 'rye' way, but that is only good for 1 year. If you can afford it hire some

A yard takes 1-2 years to fixup into shape. Less if you go with the quick and easy 'rye' way, but that is only good for 1 year. If you can afford it hire someone who does it for a living and it will be amazing. But if you want DIY just buy plants that fit the area. Aeration and proper grooming will be the top items on the list. I would go house shopping with friends and family. I would walk into houses that were basically amazing. But they would hate the backyard had not been mowed this week and nope out. When buying a house keep an eye on structural, shape, layout, and location. Everything else is mostly decorative. For example I had to kind of move recently fairly quickly. So the apt I ended up in is very 70s. There is no fixing that structural. The owners have tried with paint and colors. But it still has a very closed in 70s build to it. No amount of paint will fix the walls that are in the way.