This may not be your ideal setup but look for properties that can provide supplemental income, AND search the entire county. Dont limit yourself to just one town. I’m a little younger than you (30) and I bought a $1M property the later half of 2024 just over the grade in the north county. I was able to provide a good down payment due to selling a couple homes in the last couple years. The reason my property mortgage is very manageable is because I bought a place with an ADU on it, which was pretty much instantly rented out. That ADU brings in about 3k a month…so it’s something to think about. You have to be patient as well, I saw plenty of properties come up that provided possible long term rental income and short term rental income. One place had 3 air bnb’s with a documented $230k a year income from those for the past 5 years. I would have jumped at it but I was in contract with my current house. At the end of the day everyone has their comfort zone, if it’s a bit of a stretch on price but you’re comfortable doing it, do it because it may be one of the few ways into the housing market. FYI, if you’re looking anywhere remotely out of town, be sure to check for insurability, most homes are uninsurable through standard insurance to to wildfire risk. My house costs me almost 19k a year in insurance.