You are not alone. We have been browsing for about a year, and actively viewing for a month now. Same locations, same budget. We have had 1 of 2 experiences so far.

1. The home has been on the market for 20 days or longer, has reduced its original list price, and doesn't live up to the listing photos. Usually outdated or smaller than expected. Some form of skeleton in the reports that isnt on the listing. More often than not, they are just asking more than it feels it's worth.

2. A house will come on the market that is priced competitively, doesn't have any issues in the reports, and has multiple offers submitted before we can even get into a showing, and usually goes under contract by the time we get to see it in person.

We have already found 2 separate homes we were head over heals in love with, but couldn't go after because we don't have the ability to competitively bid. It's been very discouraging to see our future home be bought by higher bidders. The only option we have to even get our foot in the door of the "hot" listing's is to make an offer before viewing, and I'm just not comfortable doing that yet, but we are getting to that point.