I have the DVD of the fourth season, and in the episode The Grove, Carol, Tyreese and the girls stay at an abandoned house for a few days. On the DVD they said the house location really was an abandoned house. It had been foreclosed a couple of years ago. The prep work for the house included clearing out all the brush that had grown in a couple of years around the house. The background of this scene is what the whole yard looked like.
Well I guess that might make filming difficult. : )
Gotta suspend a lot of disbelief sometimes but still a great show