Hoping to get some input from the hive. We currently live in a raised ranch on a small village lot in an area where lots of people live on acreage and like elbow room. We’re planning to sell sometime in the next two years and need to replace our current deck. We can’t decide if we want to tear it down to replace with a nice set of stairs and patio at ground level, which we think would make the yard look a lot bigger but may be less appealing than a deck, or resurface the existing structure, which is cheaper/easier, but breaks our small back yard into four smaller spaces (each side of the deck, in front of the deck and the deck) and one whole side of the yard never gets used.

If you were buying would you want a bigger feeling yard with a patio or a smaller feeling yard with a resurfaced deck?