on his driveway/sidewalk long after the sun has melted it all off my west-facing driveway.

Having said that, I'm not sure I would quite make that a show stopper on buying a house that I otherwise really liked. It's not like you can't get the snow off your driveway at all if it faces north. You just don't get any help from the sun. It's mostly the residual stuff where this matters. With west or south-facing, your driveway can be clear and dry once the sun comes out, but with north-facing, you never seem to get there until the temperature rises above freezing.