buy great house, great area but not great plot?

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just a bit of background, we sold our house in december, much quicker than expected having put it on the market for a particular house. we missed out on it as another buyer got in first. we are very limited in the area we want and only 3-4 houses per year come up in the estate.

we've been holding on since december for another house to come, our buyers are fine with waiting but they've been waiting 10 weeks now and unsurprising have started to question our solicitors etc.

this week, we went back to considering a house thats been on the market 3.5 months now, we viewed a while ago and initially discounted it as we wanted a decent drive and good garage access for family bikes to come in and out easily.

its a good house with all the mod cons, larger garden than most and in a very popular family area.

the snags are that the two car drive is about a foot shorter than most of the other two car driveways, so not much room to open garage doors if you've got a large car like an mondeo, people carrier etc, you'de be overhanging onto a narrow shared driveway with one other house.

its also got awkward access where you park at the back but have no access to the back garden so have to walk around front. not an issue for use as our children are not tiny toddlers anymore and would put them in house for two minutes while we unpack car/ unload shopping etc.

i've be obsessing on google earth/satellite maps and on the housing estate, can only see one other house with the same drive as ours. we have x2 smaller hatch backs, like astra/ ford focus sized so we're not worried but a lot of people who live on the estate or the type of people who it attracts are audi A5 saloon or vw passat estates.

worried that it might out off people if we bought it and when the time comes to re-sell.

any thoughts?

Are you worried about how it will work for you or how it will be to resell in the future? The shared drive aspect would put me off, even more so if you think your car might overhang it, plus I'd not be keen on the car/garage being round the back where I can't see it. If the garage has a side door then that solves the getting the bikes in/out if the cars are parked right up against the main doors.

Could you go into rented for a while and wait for another to come up? Or go all Kirstie Allsop and leaflet the houses in the estate you would consider buying and see if any of them want to sell.

Is 3.5 months a long time for a house to be on the market in this estate? If yes then that tells you a lot....

Frankly, it sounds like you're overthinking it. A drive that's a foot shorter doesn't sound terrible especially that you have smaller cars so not an issue for you? However, have you considered renting until the right place comes onto the market? I think that keeping your buyers waiting might be false economy. Say, the right house does come up but the sellers will need to find somewhere else and the chain will get only longer... your buyer might then pull out as they'll get fed up with waiting...

Those things wouldn't bother me. I would buy it to keep your buyer and get a house you like, the size you like, in the area you like. If your cars fit on the drive it won't be a problem for you. Unless you are wanting to move in a couple of years I wouldn't be overly worried about the possible size of future perspective buyers cars.

You could replace the garage doors with an electric roll up garage door.
Requires zero opening space

Seriously unless you think you're going to be selling within a few years you are seriously over thinking it.

Will it work for your family for 7+ years? It does sound as though the housing stock you are interested is very limited. If the house has been on the market longer than average at least you should be able to put in a lower offer.

grateful for your replies.

we are thinking of being there 7-10 years unless need to move for job opportunities.

we have considered renting but i'm not keen on being off the property ladder albeit temporarily, dont know why particularly but think we have an early mortgage redemption fee (£6- 10K). also, detached houses rise very sharply each year, so even 6 months of renting could mean a rise of £10K.

there are a couple more houses on the estate which have been on around the same time. the house that we missed out on was a true gem for the estate, new- ish kitchen with broad neutral appeal, great flooring, 4 car drive and south facing "good for the area" sized garden. still sad about that one!

I like the idea of leafleting all the houses you're interested in. Is all about the location...

I really think that if you're looking to buy on one estate then you can't afford to be too choosy. I thought you were going to say that the house was fine but the garden was tiny. Seeing as they're both ok then surely you can overlook the drive issue. Assuming this is a modern estate most people who live on those tend to leave their cars on the roadside rather than in the drive anyway! Would there be a way of putting in an access gate from the drive to the back garden to make life easier?

Sounds fine to me - right area, nice house nice garden, slightly annoying back garage but not an issue for you because you have older kids.

Can't you port your mortgage to the new house? It would be a waste of money to pay 6-10k in penalties.