We can afford $450,000, but as we kept looking at the scarce supply even in the outer-edge neighborhoods -- like Excelsior, Crocker Amazon, and the Outer Mission -- we upped our threshold to $500,000.

Even at that figure it's hard to find a real estate agent who wants to work with you. Most of them look at you like you're nuts.

I get early information on homes going on the market through an app called Zip Realty. I go out to see it and the next day I hear from the agent that it's taken. We've put in four or five bids.

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We moved our search to the other side of the bay -- Oakland. We're thinking of looking in Sacramento, where the home prices are a lot lower.

I'm a labor and employee relations consultant and Patty is a manager in an organic produce warehouse. I can work from there and Patty can find a job easily. But I'm from Brooklyn. I like urban areas. I have a hard time thinking about living outside the city.