If the “through street” is only two lanes with a yellow line(s) down the middle, then I would take the house and put up a short picket fence around the front yard to prevent your kids/dog from straying. If it is wider than that, I would not buy it for a residence, especially since you have small children. This house is bigger and will resell much better than a condo. You don’t have any control over a condo assn’s ability to raise HOA dues and demand special assessments over the years. You also don’t have any control over how many units are tenant-occupied, causing the complex’s units to be only cash purchases in the future.
However, I feel you could hang in there for a third choice …. that is, a SFR that DOES NOT suffer from “economic obsolescence” in the form of abutting a busy street. If you could find a 1650 to 2000 sf SFR listing nearby whose seller would accept a similarly-priced offer from you, then that would be the preferable choice, IMO. Don’t sweat the small stuff (needs new DW or HW heater, etc). Focus yourselves only on structural defects you will not accept, NOT BS small stuff you can fix for a a few hundred dollars.
You cannot fix a busy-street location or the fact that you will be only own a fractional interest of a condo complex in which you will have zero control over its mgmt decisions.
Another consideration is that a corner lot also takes 2-4x month mowing and more water than a lot in the middle of the block.
Edit: if the house you’re considering making an offer on is across the street (busy st side) from a school or strip mall, I would not consider it for a young family as there will be too much traffic and too many people on the side of your house at various hours of the day and night.
If it is situated across from a community rec center I would consider if the setback of the rec center and grounds was ample and it had ample parking.
