My first home, I bought far below our level of reasonable affordability and I hated certain cheap qualities/drawbacks of the home within a year.

Now I'm looking for a house that I plan to live in for a decade or two and I have trouble compromising on anything. It needs curb appeal, it needs a flat lot, it needs a 3 car garage, it needs a private backyard, it needs an open floor plan but not too open, it can't be too outdated, the list goes on.

How do I cope with compromising? I WFH with kids so I spend all of my time at home. I need it to be a sanctuary. Even at $900k in a MCOL, the desireable inventory is just not there. Custom building is a losing man's game right now though, and I don't want that headache anyways.