We don't use our backyard at all, although we use our deck, and run around the house a fair bit.

11:38. I wrote poorly. I meant to say I regret it because it is such a time suck and we barely use it in summer because of mosquitoes.

We thought we wanted a yard but with the time suck of maintenance and the scourge of mosquitoes, we barely use it.

Not having some sort of useable yard space was a deal breaker for us.

Absolutely.

We love having a backyard. Our last house didn't, so it wasn't really on my list of things to consider - but now that we do, our daughter is out there all the time on the swingset....

We have a smallish backyard (big enough for a swingset though) and it is a godsend. If you are one of those energetic families who loves to pack up and go out and be social, you won't miss it. (That's not snarky - I have a friend with a huge yard who nonetheless brings her child to the park every day after work, rain or shine.) For someone like me, who is perennially short of time, being able to have the kids get some outdoor time without dragging them somewhere else (or even changing out of my sweats or whatever) is really important. At this age it's more important to me than a nice patio - I figure when the kids are older we'll relandscape the playset area into a nicer patio than we currently have. BTW we also use Mosquito Squad, and while I know they are very controversial (and have abused these message boards before) it really does help in terms of using the yard year-round.

Yes, because I garden. It took us a while to find one that was acceptable- like you everything we were finding was small, sloped, or wooded. Eventually we found one that was still on the smallish but flat and open. Not perfect, but perfectly functional for now!

We garden and wish we had a bigger back yard.

Mosquito Squad was the very best decision we've made re: our backyard. Just a well-meaning suggestion.

OP here. We have a small yard at our current home but never use it because of the mosquitoes. It's not big enough for a swingset.

Personally a functional yard (back or front) was a deal-breaker for us. It is unlikely you will find everything unless your budget is basically unlimited, but the lot the house sits on is one of the few things that can really never be changed.

We use our yard almost every day when we're not at the pool (summer) or it's just too cold (winter.)

For me it was a deal breaker - we use our yard a lot. I wish my house was bigger though. Hopefully we have enough lot space to expand the house and still have a decent sized yard.

I would trade a large backyard for a large house but not a small house.

We do not have any pets but were hoping to find a nice yard for our kids. I'm seeing houses that I really like right now and with lots of potential. The problem is that many of these houses have a very small backyard or no grass at all. These aren't McMansions that are close to each other. There's plenty of room between houses but most of these houses are backed up to wooded areas or have sloped yards. One house has a beautiful patio overlook with plenty of space. The more I think about this I wonder if we would even use a backyard with it being so buggy in NOVA. I'm thinking this should be the lowest priority on my list since it's unlikely we will find everything we are looking for in one house.