Another moving to Pitt! (Pittsburgh, Penn Hills: for sale, rentals, mortgage)

[newpgher]

Hi everyone

I'll be coming to Pittsburgh in a few months and am looking to buy.

Will be working at U Pitt for at least the next 2 years.

I've read at least a half dozen of the moving/neighborhood oriented threads about Pittsburgh, and think I've got a something of an idea about the different neighborhoods in the City, but maybe less so about the suburbs.

I visited earlier in the month and spent most of my time in the City in the Shadyside and Squirrel Hill neighborhoods. While they are nice, I think they are out of my price range for buying. I'd like to spend less than $60k, if possible on a house in a quiet, safe neighborhood. While I have a car, I'd like to be able to take the T.

I keep hearing nice things about Mt. Lebanon, but it looks like more than I'd like to spend, and I've got no kids, so the school taxes are wasted on me.

Any other recommendations in areas I should check out?

Thanks!

[Drover]

Safe neighborhood, $60K house, T access... what you want is Beechview. But you should know that insisting on "T" access is very limiting since it really only serves the south part of the city and inner south suburbs. Furthermore, the T isn't particularly convenient for getting you to Oakland, which is where Pitt is. You can get there from a "T" neighborhood but it will involve a transfer downtown. Consider an East End neighborhood that is along the East busway. It's just as good as the T because it has a dedicated right-of-way (which even certain parts of the T doesn't have -- a stretch of it runs on streets) and some routes that run on the busway will take you straight to campus.

Or, absent that, consider a neighborhood that is close enough to Pitt that even a bus route through street traffic won't take you long to get there. Bloomfield is a good place to find a home (barely) in your price range, with an acceptable level of safety (for an urban environment of course), and a convenient commute to Pitt. Also consider Lawrenceville, Greenfield, the southern part of Oakland, Mount Washington (on the south side of the city but still close to downtown) and the Wilkinsburg portion of Regent Square. Most of Wilkinsburg is a dump and the school district sucks, so even the nice corner of Wilkinsburg is cheap to buy into.

Also know that while $60K can buy you into a safe neighborhood in Pittsburgh, both the neighborhood and the house are very likely to be a little rough on the eyes. If you want to buy charm, especially within manageable commute distance to Pitt, you'll have to pay.

Finally, consider renting at least for a few months before you really get a good feel for all of these places.

[Hopes]

I just looked at the Howard Hanna website. There's really not anything available in the South Hills near the T except one in Beechview but I'm not sure if that's a good part of Beechview.

For safe areas, there's one for sale in Bloomfield, one in Stanton Heights, a few in Lawrenceville, and a larger selection in Etna and Millvale and a couple in Shaler

There are some in Brighton Heights, Bellevue, Crafton but those areas aren't as convenient as the ones I've listed.

That's it. That's all that's safe and somewhat convenient to Oakland but most are going to require you to drive or transfer buses.

I'm actually pretty shocked at how low the house prices are in Penn Hills. I knew that township was going downhill but I had no idea that it had gone that downhill. It think it's safe enough.

I'm a bit confused as to why someone would buy a home when only planning to live here for 2 years.

[I_Like_Spam]

You can look at Overbrook, Bon Air, or even Beltzhoover where the T stop is a far way from the most troublesome sections of the neighborhood ("safe" is a relative term).

If you don't mind heavy traffic, there are modern homes in the bottom of Maytide and Glenbury Sts.

$60k might be a tough price to do in Bonair.

Also, the St. Justin neighborhood in Mt. Washington is right above the South Hill Junction if you don't mind walking long city steps.

[greg42]

Do you plan on staying beyond 2 years even if you're not still working at Pitt? If not, and you would move away at that point, buying would be a risky proposition, even at those prices. I get that a mortgage on a 60k house is probably cheaper than some of the rents you might find (at least for similar space), so it might be worth doing some math, but unless you're staying for the long haul you'd do well to include a net loss of money on the house in your math (after transfer taxes, commission, improvements, etc).

I dunno how low that payment could be, maybe $600-700, but you can find rents in that range and less fairly regularly in various neighborhoods including the ones mentioned so far.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by Drover

Safe neighborhood, $60K house, T access... what you want is Beechview. But you should know that insisting on "T" access is very limiting since it really only serves the south part of the city and inner south suburbs. Furthermore, the T isn't particularly convenient for getting you to Oakland, which is where Pitt is.

Yup, this is very important if you're looking for good access to the T. It won't get you to Oakland so it might be a bit pointless to look for a house around there. I would stick with the suggestion of renting and looking in Bloomfield.

[newpgher]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the replies.

I am actually debating between renting and buying, but my preference would be to buy. I know 2 years is a short time, but it's quite possible that I might end up staying longer. I realize it might still be smarter for me to rent, so if I find something to buy, I'll definitely have to crunch the hard numbers to decide. (Since it's not definite, I'm not SOLD on buying.)

Right now, the rentals I'm looking at in the city have rents ~$750+ in the areas of Squirrel Hill and Shadyside.

I don't HAVE to live near the T, but if I venture further away from the City, I'd like to be able to have that as an option.

Should I be looking elsewhere at rentals? Those were the neighborhoods recommended to me.

Thanks!

[Drover]

Originally Posted by newpgher

Hi all,

Thanks for all the replies.

I am actually debating between renting and buying, but my preference would be to buy. I know 2 years is a short time, but it's quite possible that I might end up staying longer. I realize it might still be smarter for me to rent, so if I find something to buy, I'll definitely have to crunch the hard numbers to decide. (Since it's not definite, I'm not SOLD on buying.)

Right now, the rentals I'm looking at in the city have rents ~$750+ in the areas of Squirrel Hill and Shadyside.

I don't HAVE to live near the T, but if I venture further away from the City, I'd like to be able to have that as an option.

Should I be looking elsewhere at rentals? Those were the neighborhoods recommended to me.

Thanks!

If you're looking at rentals, also look at Oakland itself (away from the student ghetto if you want relative peace and quiet), Friendship, Bloomfield, Greenfield, Lawrenceville, Highland Park, and maybe southern East Liberty.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Hopes

There are some in Brighton Heights, Bellevue, Crafton but those areas aren't as convenient as the ones I've listed.

What about the west busway for Crafton? Are there routes that go directly from the Crafton stop to Oakland?

[greg42]

Originally Posted by newpgher

Right now, the rentals I'm looking at in the city have rents ~$750+ in the areas of Squirrel Hill and Shadyside.

Well, that makes sense. The rents in those places are going to be higher. But you're not looking to buy there, so it's not really a fair comparison. If you look at rent in somewhere like Bloomfield, which is still convenient to Pitt in Oakand, you should find some more reasonable rents.

The T really isn't that convenient for getting to Oakland, as you would have to transfer to a bus downtown.