Like mentioned above, a Ball Python seems like the obvious choice. They're usually in that 3-5 foot range, can be really nice and easy to handle, and are often times one of the first snakes people get due to their (usual) low maintenance). Additionally, I'd say they easily have the most diversity in terms of morphs/color patterns, so there's a plethora of different looks you can choose from. As you mentioned, pricing can be confusing, and BPs are the perfect example of this as you can find normals listed for $20 and really high end morphs for thousands, it really just comes down to how much you are willing to pay and what catches your eye.
To answer some of your other questions, I would do some research into whatever species you decide to look into. There is a lot of info out there regarding exact care requirements (feeding, enclosure, temp/humid, etc.). I've only kept a few boas and pythons, the BPs are by far my favorite. Way nicer than my tree boas lol.
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