When I counsel home buyers for Land Park, I typically ask them which direction they prefer their home to face. Much of the time, they look at me like I'm looney. Then it hits them, yes, the direction a home faces is a preference.

In the northern hemisphere, southern exposure gets the most sun, even though the sun moves from east to west. But the way the streets are laid out in Sacramento, especially in the core areas close to downtown such as Midtown, Land Park and Curtis Park, many streets run east and west. This means most of the homes face north or south.

However, in East Sacramento, many streets run north and south, so those homes typically face east or west. If your home faces east or north, the front part of your home will receive the morning sun and the back yard will be hit by the hot afternoon sun.

One of my Land Park neighbors behind me wants to rebuild a shared fence. Her dog has a habit of jumping over the fence. Well, that and the fact the fence is falling down. It doesn't matter much to me since that fence is located behind our garage. But the type of fence matters to my husband because he maintains several raised-bed vegetable gardens back there.

The neighbor asked if it would be all right to build a fence higher than six-feet, and I gave her the go-ahead. Then my husband had a chat with her, because he was worried that an additional foot of fencing would block part of the sun from his garden. He suggested she top it off with chicken wire. When she shared that bit of information with me, I couldn't help but laugh. I suspect my neighbor was a bit horrified by that suggestion. Chicken wire isn't exactly visually appealing. I think lattice would look better.

However, my husband is right about one thing. A higher fence on a southern property line would throw shadows on that part of the yard. So, if you're looking at homes in Land Park, consider which way the sun moves. You may prefer to buy a home where the master suite is shaded in the afternoon, with a sunny morning breakfast nook. Or you may prefer a back yard with a northern exposure, especially if you do a lot of late afternoon entertaining. But look out for those neighbors who tell you to put up chicken wire.