<prompt> Human: Hi there, Long-time rpersonalfinance lurker, first time poster. I need help from the rpersonalfinance community on next steps towards home-ownership. Im 27 years old and live in my parents house in San Francisco. Its getting to the point where Im planning on proposing to my girlfriend, but we cant continue to live in either of our parents places. My goal is to move out in 2 years. I work in the San Francisco financial district, and my annual salary is 117k excluding 3 raises. I have remote-work flexibility and can work from home 3 days of the week. I have no outstanding debts no student loans, no CC debt, no auto loans, and I currently have 25k in liquid cash, 25k in a Roth IRA, and about 40k in a 401k. Ive been thinking about purchasing a starter condo in the South Bay south San Francisco, San Mateo, Redwood City, Fremont, etc. and I know I have a long way to go in securing more savings for a down payment. My main question is, is it currently a good idea in this market to try to buy a 2bed2bath condo in this area? Will I have enough in savings within 2 years to put a down payment? I know Ill need at least 80k in cash for a down payment, but should I try to hold out and live with my parents for as long as possible saving vs. purchasing an entry-level condo with an obscene mortgage?  <response>: Ive been thinking about purchasing a starter condo in the South Bay south San Francisco, San Mateo, Redwood City, Fremont, etc. Those are not the south bay. The first three are thePeninsula, the latter is the East Bay. Ill need at least 80k in cash for a down payment,Where? In the Central Valley? You need 20 down. 80K0.20 is a 400K purchase price. There are no 2 bed2 bath condos in the places youve listed for 400K. 