Wow. Your market there is better (as a buyer) than ours was 10 years ago.
We've never been that particular about houses -- our longest search was 3 weeks.
Although we did see a "We Want!" once and bought it. Great layout and beautiful touches, though the house turned out to be a lot of trouble. We had to sell it a few years later and downsize, leaving behind some sad memories. It was spooky though, nothing's ever gone right for anyone who lived in the house. The older couple who bought it from us soon divorced, for example. And after them...
As much as I want to stand pat and try to be part of a political solution for Conservatives in CA, in deference to my qwife and children, I’ve really stepped up the serious looking around Boise-Nampa ID.
There are MANY good options in that area WITH acerage, to boot. I’m in no BIG hurry, so I’ll stall for the “right” place (newer 5 & 3 on 5+ acres, no HOA, rural/semi-rural <$550K). Adjoining permanently undeveloped BLM land would be a plus.
I dream of being able to sit on my porch without being afflicted by the bumpa-thump of rap crap or the wail of half-drunk mariachis blaring out of the wondows of every other car that drives down the road.
I dream of having enough space for the kids to go “out back” and have ROOM to really run and play. Heck, even the dog and the cats would probably feel like they’d died and gone to Heaven.