With home prices on the rise throughout Sonoma County, the hunt for reasonably priced homes can be both frustrating and exhausting. What is “affordable” for some, may be completely out of reach for others.

According to Zillow’s mortgage calculator, for households with a median income of around $66,833, the share of monthly income Sonoma County residents might pay for a home at the Feb. 2018 median list price of $649,000 may be well over 30 percent.

Here’s what I mean:  With 20% down, a 30-year fixed mortgage at  4.3% interest rate, the monthly mortgage for a home at the current Sonoma County median is around $2,572 per month. That is 46.2% of your monthly income if you earn the median household income ($66,833) and provided you can stash away a 20 percent deposit of $129,800.

“Affordable” may be closer to $430,000. That brings things down to a monthly mortgage of $1,695 with a 20 percent deposit.

So for the rest of us – journalists, teachers, librarians and small business owners – I present to you the best of the least expensive properties currently on the market.

From cozy 1930s cottages to new developments, these ten homes are beautiful and “affordable.”