I would stop trying to evaluate every option through the same lens.
If your next house move in Valinda, CA feels bigger than it should, I would build a simpler filter before doing anything else. The material available here confirms a broad set of housing categories and activity types, but it does not include the local figures that would support making every option compete on equal terms.
The framework includes single-family homes along with condo, townhouse, and apartment properties, and it follows new listings, pending properties, closed sales, and distressed changes. For Valinda, CA, that gives me enough to say the first decision is category, not address.
That matters because each property type solves a different problem. I would define which tradeoff you are willing to make, whether that is upkeep, space, or flexibility, and use that decision to screen homes before you get attached to the wrong one.
Write down your best-case daily routine in the next home. Eliminate property types that fight that routine. Then let me help you compare the remaining options in Valinda, CA with a plan that stays grounded and clear.
