Some of my investor friends say renters don't care about the backyard; they only care about the house.

The back yard hosts 2 apple trees, one pear tree, a small cherry tree, a small hawthorn tree, three large pine trees, a large spruce tree, 2 large (beautiful) maple trees and a smaller maple tree, a large walnut tree, a large horse chestnut tree, and a fairly big lilac bush.

@Brian Nel yes an each duplex has a separate backyard and can fit 4 cars on each driveway.

Being from Jersey as well, i hear the same thing all the time about property taxes, but I wont let that discourage me from investing in my backyard!

Your thought process sounds to me like as if you found a rare widget, say a baseball card, at a thrift store for a $1 --- nobody there knew what they had. 

Between the Chiefs multiple super bowls (and the Kelce/Swift hype), the 2023 NFL draft, World Cup in 2026, new women's soccer team (KC Current), downtown baseball stadium in the works, Panasonic building a new facility, etc.Kansas City will also give you a lot of bang for your buck too 

@Marcus Auerbach Great write up and very timely as I am preparing to build a small 300-350 sq feet home in my backyard. 

Changed the roof, painted throughout, fenced in the back yard, and furnished it.

We changed the flooring to LVP throughout, painted, added crown molding, installed new lighting and ceiling fans throughout, did light cosmetic upgrades to the bathrooms, fenced in the backyard, removed dead tree from front yard, and re-graveled the driveway.

Vestal was one of our biggest rivals in high school when I played varsity baseball for Horseheads.