If you really want to purchase a place, have you thought about getting a room mate? That way you would be getting some money towards the mortgage.

I just bought a townhouse in the DC area (which is kind of like buying in CA). So everything here is inflated, but that goes with the territory. Home ownership is expensive, I have re-painted the entire interior of the place, put new tile in two of the bathrooms, started working on the yard, and I am going to replace a number of the windows next month. It is alot of work and expensive, but you would have someplace for the dogs...