WINTER PARK, Fla. � June 1, 2012 � A Winter Park house owned by local real estate agent Ryan Courech is to be featured Saturday morning on the A&E cable network�s "Fix This Yard" television show.

Courech, co-owner of the real-estate-investment company Meridian Capital Holdings LLC, bought the house for $170,000 in October with the intention of rehabbing it and soon got an email from a television producer who had seen a photo of it on the multiple-listing service.

What attracted the attention of the producer for "Fix This Yard" was more than the neglected yard. For production purposes, the show wanted Orlando-area houses that looked as though they could be in any part of the country.

Courech initially rejected the offer to have the house featured on the show. Producers wanted him to invest more in the landscaping than he had budgeted, and the show�s schedule could have slowed his plans for quickly reselling the place.

But several days after turning down the offer, Courech said he reconsidered.

"We�re just a little small business," said Courech, who also works as an agent for Winter Park Land Co. "We wanted to differentiate ourselves and let people get to know us a little better."

Courech became such a convert to the idea of being on the show that he suggested the show�s producers consider either the house in Winter Park or another one he owned in the Orlando area.

He learned in December that his Winter Park house had been selected from among about 12 homes under consideration. It was vacant and easy for film crews to access, which probably helped, he said. The episode is scheduled to be shown at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

Courech said he ultimately spent about $5,000 on landscaping. A Tampa-based company that did the work estimated the job would have retailed for $15,000 to $20,000, but some of the labor and material were donated.

The house, listed for $299,000, is now under contract, and Courech said the exterior overhaul was well worth his investment.

"It was a lot of fun, no doubt about it. It�s something that I�ll remember for the rest of my life," he said. "I�m nervous to see how the final show comes out. Hopefully, I don�t come out as the homeowner who doesn�t know what he�s doing. But, even if I do, it�s all in good fun."

Copyright � 2012 The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Fla.), Mary Shanklin, Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. Distributed by MCT Information Services.