7-Day Plan — Day 4 of 7
Figure out where you should look
Where should I look based on my budget and life constraints? Start with the cities your numbers actually support.
Direct answer
Your budget (from Day 1) plus your life constraints — commute tolerance, work location, home type — should narrow the Bay Area's dozens of cities down to a short, realistic list. Start with our city comparison page, which already shows whether each city fits the budget you saved on Day 1.
Haven't run your numbers yet? Use the buying power calculator first.
Why this matters
Price alone doesn't tell you where to look
Two cities can have the same median home price and be completely wrong choices for different buyers — one might add 40 minutes to a daily commute, the other might only have condos when you need a house. "Where should I look" is really a matching problem between your budget, your life, and what's actually available.
The most reliable starting filter is budget, since it's the hardest constraint — you can't buy what you can't afford, no matter how good the commute is.
Evidence
What actually narrows the list
- Your saved budget
- From Day 1's calculator result
- Current location
- Where you live now, if it matters to you
- Work location(s)
- Yours, and a partner's if applicable
- Commute tolerance
- How much daily drive/transit time you'll actually accept
- Home type
- Single-family, condo, or townhome availability differs a lot by city
- Bedrooms needed
- Affects which price tier (starter vs. median) applies
Step by step
How to build your shortlist today
- 1
Make sure Day 1's budget is saved
If you haven't run the affordability calculator yet, do that first — everything below depends on it.
- 2
Open the city comparison page
Every city card shows a "Fits your budget" / "Entry-level fits" / "Above your budget" badge, sorted fits-first within each county.
- 3
Read past the median price
An "Entry-level fits" badge means a condo or townhome is realistic there even if the median single-family home isn't — worth a closer look, not a discard.
- 4
Cross-check commute for your top 3-5 cities
Budget fit narrows the list; commute usually makes the final call.
Example
What a shortlist actually looks like
Example
$615,000-$725,000 budget (the Day 1 example)
On the city comparison page, cities where the median home price is at or below $725,000 show a "Fits your budget" badge — sorted to the top of their county group. Cities where only a condo or townhome is in range show "Entry-level fits" instead, still worth considering if you're open to that home type.
Checklist
Before you move to Day 5
- Confirmed your budget is saved (Day 1)
- Reviewed city fit badges on the city comparison page
- Noted 3-5 candidate cities, including any "entry-level fits" worth a second look
- Cross-checked commute for your top candidates
Methodology
How the city budget match actually works
Methodology
A city "fits" if its median home price is at or below the top of your saved budget range. If the median doesn't fit but the cheapest available condo, townhome, or starter home does, it shows as "entry-level fits" instead of being hidden — you might still want to see a stretch city's numbers even if it's out of budget, so nothing is filtered out, only sorted.
Caveats: a full "Where Should I Buy?" tool that also factors in commute time and life-anchor locations directly is planned but not built yet — for now, the city comparison page handles the budget half of the matching problem, and commute is still a manual cross-check.
Next
Day 5: Find money & opportunities
Real down payment and closing-cost assistance programs — and how to track deadlines that actually matter.