The only reason I knew they had scheduled their closing date is because I texted that several workers would be out to give me estimates for yard work. 

As far as spraying a front yard for fleas other animals bring into the yard?

We found that the pipes were getting clogged because of tree roots that had spread into our yard.

Happens every year in wind storms.. but for over hang limbs I just have my tree guy go to the property line and go straight up and cut anything and everything that is over hanging my yard.. in our little berg here Lake Oswego they are Tree Nazi's and you need a permit to take a tree down.. you have to get an arborist to prove its a hazard etc etc..

Plus, it’s a corner lot with a big yard, which adds a lot of appeal.

Your true asset hunters are in the basement, the yard, the whole property looking for ways to upgrade the asset that others are missing.You are being very smart about your VA utilization, you just want to make sure the asset is right.

How hard is it to direct a gutter downspout away from the foundation, cut a stump off a gas line, cut down the giant dead tree in the yard, at least caulk and paint, etc.?

Similar sqft and no garage, yard, and 1 less bedroom. 

In my case, I wasn’t sure my land qualified because it was essentially my back yard, but because it was always a separate lot from my house, I was able to still do it because raw land without improvements on it is always considered investment property.

Quote from @Deborah Wodell: Bought a property with what we thought had a side yard full of junk and then discovered it was actually a small neighboring lot with zoning and public nuisance fines.