Buying house in south bay

Me and SO are looking to buy 3bd 2ba SFH in Synnyvale/Santa Clara/ Cupertino/MTV region. No kids yet, may have in next 2-3 years. Both of us are working and are trying to figure out our budget.

Total TC - 630K (370K salary, 55K bonus, 210K vesting stocks)
Liquid savings - 430K
Vested RSUs and other stock investments - 1.3M (profit taxable)

Tax - 35%
Retirement account - Full contribution of 39K

Monthly expenditures -
Food (Grocery + Dining out) - $800
Transportation - $250
Shopping / Entertainment - $1000
Travel - $1200
Miscellaneous - $1000

Total = ~ $4500

What should be our budget for purchasing a house that meets our requirements and is not too far away from work? We had started with 1.5M budget in mind, but can't seem to find houses meeting all our criteria which are also close to work in that price. Also how much money should we target to save in a month for any contingency, when calculating the amount left over for mortgage?

#bayarea #housing