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I finally came to my senses and decided to buy a house instead of renting,but my dream is becoming a nightmare cause i can't seem to find it,my wish list is not unreal,i mean,a 1,500 sq feet 3 bed 2 bath townhouse in the suburbs of a major city.So,i know that there's a few properties within my budget,but it seems that they don't last a day in the market every time one pops up here and there.Where are the houses to buy!!!
If its hard to find a place with your specifics in your market, you need to be prepared to view and offer immediately. You need a great realtor who will do a daily search on MLS with your criteria. You can also set up your own search on a real estate website. On Realtor.com on the upper right hand side there's a drop down for "Searches" where you can set up a daily report of new listings to be sent to your email addy. If you see something, act immediately to go see it. Find Real Estate, Homes for Sale & Houses for Rent on REALTOR.com - Realtor.com®
Our inventory is very low. Anything nice that is reasonably priced (not a bargain, but at or near market value) is gone in a couple days. Exceptions are high-end homes over $600K and they are still only taking 30-40 days if priced right. Lower priced homes (for here that means $350K and lower) are going in a couple days if in decent condition and priced right.
Take the advice of the above poster that said be prepared to view and offer immediately if something comes up that you like.
You don't mention a price. We have tons of homes you've described but if you want one for $20k, good luck.
FWIW, the market here is extremely hot right now in many areas. Homes are selling well when priced right.
+1 on this ^^.
In San Diego, over the past 6-9 months price realization really started kicking in. For a while it was a joke and listing prices were way out of whack. I am sure some where strategically attempting to default by listing a house so far out of line, no one would ever bid on it.
Even here a house priced well according to its local area (usually zip code) and is staged somewhat well are flying within 30 days of being listed at most. I am also seeing flippers back in the 300-400k markets here (this price bracket is starter home territory). Lots of cash buying here too mostly from internationals.
To the OP, be patient but also be realistic. As the others have said, not knowing where you are or the price its pretty tough to offer any general tips or advice.
If what you are looking for doesn't exist on the market, then you have to change what you are looking for.
Yep.
And...
There are a million people out there shopping for value. When something that looks like a great value comes around that fact impacts the chances you will end up in first place.
It is all local relative to incomes and Fannie/Freddie loan limits and FHA loan limits.
In Florida homes under 200k move extremely quickly while homes above 600k sit and sit unless it's a distress property. My part of Florida the loan limit is less than $300k for FHA and 417k for Fannie Freddie.
In Wash DC cause loans limits are 729k homes inside beltway less than $800k move fast while those homes in the million plus range take longer. People want to put down as little as possible.
Take away the 729k loan limit and revert back to 417k. The real estate market wold tank for those homes in higher cost living areas
FYI i'm in MOCO DC area,160k's
Thanks to all posters,i'll try to be patient.
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I finally came to my senses and decided to buy a house instead of renting,but my dream is becoming a nightmare cause i can't seem to find it,my wish list is not unreal,i mean,a 1,500 sq feet 3 bed 2 bath townhouse in the suburbs of a major city.So,i know that there's a few properties within my budget,but it seems that they don't last a day in the market every time one pops up here and there.Where are the houses to buy!!! 
