Reply to Would you buy an otherwise perfect, fantastic house w/ very little backyard and on a main street?

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[quote=Anonymous]We have found a home which -- [i]with 2 exceptions[/i] -- we absolutely love and is perfect for our needs, in that it is smack-dab in the neighborhood we want to be in AND has a rare, separate, above-ground & light-filled, spacious (1100 SF) 2 BR in-law suite w/ full kitchen, bath, etc. -- my MIL is retiring later this year and moving down here to live w/ us and help take care of the kids so this istruly PERFECT for her, and almost impossible to find where we're looking. The upstairs is still sizable (2200 SF) w/ 4 BR, 2.5 BA, office, a brand new addition w/ an open kitchen and family room w/ vaulted ceiling, a great deck, and lovely old wonderful character (it's a beautifully rehabbed historic home), great front sitting porch, etc.

The 2 exceptions are significant, however:  (1) the front of the house is on a main road (though the in-law suite is on the back-side road, which is quiet and leafy and lovely, and the deck is on the side), and (2) there is very little, if any, backyard (there is a decent front yard and wide, maybe 10-12 foot"side" yard, but in the back it's mostly a drive way for 2 cars that can pull up to the in-law suite, and then greenery around the sides of that).

We currently live in a much smaller home in a [i]not great [/i]neighborhood, BUT we have an incredible backyard which we've redone and tailored to our likes/needs over the past 7 years, putting in a nice high privacy fence, adding a brick patio and lawn, landscaping, adding an herb/veg garden, and DH built a treehouse and a big, covered sandbox for our kids who are now 3 and 1.  We LOVE our backyard, even though there are many months when we can't really use it due to the heat, mosquitos, etc.).  We've been looking for a year, though, and haven't found anything as perfect as this house in the pretty specific neighborhood in which we want to live.

Would these 2 exceptions be deal-killers for you, notwithstanding the other "perfectness" of the equation?  We've been looking almost a year, and have only seen one other house in this neighborhood w/ a decent in-law suite, and it was nowhere nice as this one.  But, I feel like we (and our kids) might really miss the yard, b/c we've been so spolied having the one we've had.  Then again, the yard has partially been our salvation in an o/wise limited neighborhood--and the new neighborhood has tons of parks, including about 1 block from the house, and cafes, restaurants, etc., to walk to, and a million other wonderful things about it.

I feel like no house is going to be perfect, and we should just bite the bullet b/c this one is SO close, and uniquely perfect for our needs, w/ the in-law suite.  It would be difficult to build on an in-law suite in a different house, I think, both permitting/zoning and cost-wise (this one is in a historic district involving significant permitting limitations, and this house was already zoned for multi-family). But the thought of not having the yards for the kids, and us, is so sad (though maybe we will just adapt, use the park more, etc.?).

The main street issue doesn't bother me as much, as it's a main street but not a hugely busy one.  Plus, the house is recessed from the road a good 30 feet, w/ a nice amount of landscaping in front, and a deep front porch. Though it could be a resale issue, I fear.

Sigh....torn.  WWYD?[/quote]

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