Slapped back down to Earth

The excitement of buying a house has officially worn off. My emotions on the matter have switched from ecstasy to frustration.

Source

Lemme tell ya: finding a house that fits all most of your requirements within your price range in the location you want is tough. Over the last couple of weekends we scheduled some showings and went on an open house spree in a couple of local suburbs that were closer to the train for me while still being within 20 minutes of Brian's office.

Some highlights:

• Saw an older home with two bedrooms and one bath. The first floor was beautiful - large, updated kitchen, larger living areas. However, the bedrooms were small, the bathroom was outdated, and Brian bumped his head on the ceiling on the staircase because it was too low. Not to mention the dungeon-esque basement and the extreme proximity to the train tracks (like, right in the backyard - waaaayyyyy too close for comfort). 
• Saw a ranch that was three bedrooms and two baths. It was nice enough - just small. Like, claustrophobia-inducing small. That, and it had a septic tank, which I've never been quite comfortable with. I know if you maintain it you won't have problems, but still...yuck-o.
• Saw an adorable cape cod with three bedrooms and two baths. Except the kitchen was tiny - no more than one person could fit in it at a time, which is a HUGE minus for us. That, and it had no garage.

So, you see where I'm getting at. Is it really so much to ask that a house be in the areas we're looking in have 2-3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, a basement, and a garage within our price range (which really isn't all that low)? Are we reaching for the stars here? Apparently we are. Ridiculous.

I'm already exhausted. Blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Someone please tell me there's a light at the end of this tunnel?