Our journey
We're buying our first Bay Area home too
This isn't a hypothetical. We're first-time buyers going through the exact process this site is built to explain — and publishing the real numbers, lenders, and cities we're weighing as we go.
Why this exists
Real homes, real numbers — including ours
Most real-estate sites sell listings or leads. We're documenting our own first-home search so you can see what the process actually looks like from the inside, not just the marketing version.
Stage
Comparing cities
Pre-approval
In progress
Areas shortlisted
3
Our status snapshot is updated periodically and reflects our own search, not a live feed.
Latest updates
What we've learned so far
Each update covers one real decision, with our own numbers attached.
Milpitas vs. Morgan Hill: What We're Weighing
One gets us BART and newer construction. The other gets us more square footage for the same payment. Here's how we're actually deciding.
We Compared 5 Bay Area Lenders
Rate quotes, lender fees, and how fast each one could actually get us a real pre-approval letter.
What a Builder Tour Actually Taught Us
Incentive pricing, Mello-Roos fine print, and the upgrade-package math builders don't lead with.
Our Actual Monthly Payment, Line by Line
Principal, interest, taxes, insurance and HOA — the real breakdown behind one home we looked at.
We Asked a Local Lender Our Dumbest Questions
Points, rate locks, and what 'shopping around' actually changed for us.
Full write-ups for each update are coming soon as we complete them.
Coming later
Other Bay Area buyers' stories
Once ours is further along, we plan to feature other first-time buyers — different incomes, different cities, different trade-offs — under this same journey.
Get the Bay Area first-home numbers each month
City price updates, assistance program changes, new construction openings, and honest notes from our own buying journey. No listings spam.