Tell me about Pittsburgh! (Dormont, Bellevue: sales, home owners insurance, condos)

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by DreamPittsburgh

The weather alone is absolutely soul draining. Horrible is an understatement.

Have you ever been to New England? I fail to see how moving from there to here would be a difficult transition with the weather.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

We've gone from paying $1,000/month to rent a 1-BR home with no off-street parking in a "meh" neighborhood to now paying $401/month to OWN a 2-BR home with a slightly larger square footage and off-street parking in a "meh" neighborhood.

Being that I just started following Dave Ramsey it makes perfect sense that I can now power through paying down all of my other debts (looking at you, student loans!) with the housing cost savings and eventually work to pay off the mortgage in under a decade, too.

Then we can continue to live comfortably on our lower-middle-class hourly wages (I earn $16/hr. and my fiance earns $13/hr.). If you're going to be a barista probably making <$15/hr., then you can live comfortably here if you buy a solid older 2-BR home in the city that might need a bit of TLC but isn't a functional wreck.


We've been surprisingly delighted by our new neighborhood. People told us we were moving to "the hood", but that has yet to be our experience here. We feel blessed to be saving so much money over the "suckers" who are paying several times as much for a monthly mortgage on a slightly nicer/bigger home in a "trendy" neighborhood like Polish Hill that quite honestly doesn't offer much beyond what our new neighborhood has to offer. I've been sleeping better (as evidenced by my FitBit) since moving to the new neighborhood because it's QUIETER at night.

SCR, I'm happy to see you're liking your new area. I sometimes take the 16 to work, so I'm a little familiar with where you are, and it's far from the worst of Pittsburgh. When I moved to Bellevue myself, I kind of did feel like the people spending double what I'm paying are suckers back in Lawrenceville too

[lookingforachangeSWCT]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Pittsburgh is a very good city to dwell within if you want to earn a modest income and still live below your means as long as you intend to purchase a home.

As I said earlier your mortgage on a 2-BR or 3-BR house can often times be 1/2 or even 1/3 as much as the rent on a 1-BR apartment because our city has a rental supply shortage.

We've gone from paying $1,000/month to rent a 1-BR home with no off-street parking in a "meh" neighborhood to now paying $401/month to OWN a 2-BR home with a slightly larger square footage and off-street parking in a "meh" neighborhood.

Being that I just started following Dave Ramsey it makes perfect sense that I can now power through paying down all of my other debts (looking at you, student loans!) with the housing cost savings and eventually work to pay off the mortgage in under a decade, too.

Then we can continue to live comfortably on our lower-middle-class hourly wages (I earn $16/hr. and my fiance earns $13/hr.). If you're going to be a barista probably making <$15/hr., then you can live comfortably here if you buy a solid older 2-BR home in the city that might need a bit of TLC but isn't a functional wreck.

Pittsburgh's population is continuing to decline based upon a combination of a large elderly population that is still dying off; a low birth rate; low international immigration; and some people moving away partially due to the poor weather here. This is why our housing prices remain affordable. If the city ever "booms" our affordability will also go away.

As far as a neighborhood like Spring Garden or Marshall-Shadeland is concerned? These are two typical working-class/lower-middle-class Pittsburgh nabes that are largely inhabited by Pittsburgh natives. The housing stock is generally poor, hence the low housing prices. There's crime, but it's rarely random in nature.

We've been surprisingly delighted by our new neighborhood. People told us we were moving to "the hood", but that has yet to be our experience here. We feel blessed to be saving so much money over the "suckers" who are paying several times as much for a monthly mortgage on a slightly nicer/bigger home in a "trendy" neighborhood like Polish Hill that quite honestly doesn't offer much beyond what our new neighborhood has to offer. I've been sleeping better (as evidenced by my FitBit) since moving to the new neighborhood because it's QUIETER at night.

That's great you were able to buy a home! Congrats! Your mortgage isn't much. My condo fee here is more than your mortgage (talk about burdensome!), and I own the place outright. And my electric bill averages about half of your mortgage, even though I keep my heat on 62, because we have the highest electricity rates in the nation. These are just two reasons I need to get out of this high COL region.

What is Marshall-Shadeland like? Is it walkable, safe, affordable, mostly working people? The houses currently for sale in Spring Garden and Troy Hill are, while definitely far from expensive, certainly not cheap. I actually was surprised based on what people have told me about Pittsburgh's affordability. I was told by a few people I know, including my old college friend Rob in Shadyside, and I have also read, that one can buy a decent home in Pittsburgh for $100,000. The ones listed right now don't really appeal to me. Not much character in them. (Maybe if they were more original).

I've been thinking about moving to Pittsburgh since 2018, but never did go for it because I was waiting for my condo to appreciate a little, which it never did because our market and indeed, our whole economy is very sluggish. Seems like your market has done well there.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by lookingforachangeSWCT

What is Marshall-Shadeland like? Is it walkable, safe, affordable, mostly working people?

I'll let SCR say more, but Marshall Shadeland is a bit different than Spring Garden as it's more of a racially diverse neighborhood - about equally split between black and white people - rather than overwhelmingly working-class white. In the 15 years I've lived here it hasn't really changed much, for better or worse.

Originally Posted by lookingforachangeSWCT

The houses currently for sale in Spring Garden and Troy Hill are, while definitely far from expensive, certainly not cheap.

You said you were looking for a home from $100-$150k, so that's what I was trying to find for you. Inhabitable homes for under $50k are almost gone from the market now, but you can find some still between that and $100K.

Originally Posted by lookingforachangeSWCT

I actually was surprised based on what people have told me about Pittsburgh's affordability. I was told by a few people I know, including my old college friend Rob in Shadyside, and I have also read, that one can buy a decent home in Pittsburgh for $100,000. The ones listed right now don't really appeal to me. Not much character in them. (Maybe if they were more original).

Lots of people everywhere are pulling houses due to COVID-19, so you cant judge based upon what's on the market now. Looking over sold houses recently finds more examples. For example, I think this, this, or this might be more to your liking.

But yeah, back in 2007 I bought a habitable home in Lawrenceville for $53,000. Those days are done.

[RunD1987]

Don't mean to jump on this thread saw you are a CT Native

Thinking of moving to the Burgh as well from CT

Feel be so strange to be so far away from the ocean

[lookingforachangeSWCT]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I'll let SCR say more, but Marshall Shadeland is a bit different than Spring Garden as it's more of a racially diverse neighborhood - about equally split between black and white people - rather than overwhelmingly working-class white. In the 15 years I've lived here it hasn't really changed much, for better or worse.



You said you were looking for a home from $100-$150k, so that's what I was trying to find for you. Inhabitable homes for under $50k are almost gone from the market now, but you can find some still between that and $100K.



Lots of people everywhere are pulling houses due to COVID-19, so you cant judge based upon what's on the market now. Looking over sold houses recently finds more examples. For example, I think this, this, or this might be more to your liking.

But yeah, back in 2007 I bought a habitable home in Lawrenceville for $53,000. Those days are done.

Oh, I'm quite aware of how Covid has affected the real estate market, here and in Pittsburgh. I'm not listing or moving until this is all over. My agent here and I agreed it would be futile now anyway, as well as far too risky to my own health. I want to say, since I'm in the heart of this, do not listen to the Republicans and conservatives playing this down as something minor. This is very serious. We are losing a lot of people near me -- six friends and acquaintances have it, and two have died, including one wonderful, healthy 52 year old lady.

The rowhouse and Foursquare look great, and the prices are very good for the size of the homes. I dont like Craftsman style, really. That rowhouse is pretty big actually (2500 sf). I think the taxes listed on zillow have to be wrong. They can't be $300 for that nice Foursquare. I'd be happy in either home depending on which neighborhood I preferred. The rowhouse listing is in Manchester. What is that neighborhood like?

[lookingforachangeSWCT]

Originally Posted by RunD1987

Don't mean to jump on this thread saw you are a CT Native

Thinking of moving to the Burgh as well from CT

Feel be so strange to be so far away from the ocean

Hey, join the crowd!

[norcider]

I live near Marshall-Shadeland. It's a small neighborhood in Pittsburgh's North Side that's seen better days. However, it's super close to Downtown Pittsburgh, has access to all of the major arteries and bike/bus routes and as SCR said it's relatively quiet.

[jea6321]

Originally Posted by lookingforachangeSWCT

The rowhouse and Foursquare look great, and the prices are very good for the size of the homes. I dont like Craftsman style, really. That rowhouse is pretty big actually (2500 sf). I think the taxes listed on zillow have to be wrong. They can't be $300 for that nice Foursquare. I'd be happy in either home depending on which neighborhood I preferred. The rowhouse listing is in Manchester. What is that neighborhood like?

keep in mind that house at 1420 N Franklin didn't actually sell for that price. It was listed FSBO at 399k ( id assume the renovation was more than what the public records show it selling for) and the owner was an LLC which transferred the property to another LLC with a very similar name (3e capital llc to 3e R/E llc, clearly the same person or group). This happens for tax reasons on occasion or quite honestly a number of different reasons.

the taxes are 2797 total/ year. Reassessments are unpredictable, but if you do get hit to purchase price, you can typically get it down to about 80-85% at an arbitration appeal. You asked before about different neighborhood taxes. If within the city limits, the taxes are all the same. municipalities outside the city will all vary based on the school taxes and municipal tax rates.

basically I'm just pointing out that its not a realistic picture to think you will find a home of that quality and location for mid 100's. Fair market of that home is probably more like 325k if listed on the open market.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by jea6321

keep in mind that house at 1420 N Franklin didn't actually sell for that price. It was listed FSBO at 399k ( id assume the renovation was more than what the public records show it selling for) and the owner was an LLC which transferred the property to another LLC with a very similar name (3e capital llc to 3e R/E llc, clearly the same person or group). This happens for tax reasons on occasion or quite honestly a number of different reasons.

the taxes are 2797 total/ year. Reassessments are unpredictable, but if you do get hit to purchase price, you can typically get it down to about 80-85% at an arbitration appeal. You asked before about different neighborhood taxes. If within the city limits, the taxes are all the same. municipalities outside the city will all vary based on the school taxes and municipal tax rates.

basically I'm just pointing out that its not a realistic picture to think you will find a home of that quality and location for mid 100's. Fair market of that home is probably more like 325k if listed on the open market.

Dang. The price looked a bit low to me, but N Franklin is still one of the more transitional streets in Manchester, so I thought it might have been for real.

I remember when nice historic rowhouses actually sold at that price in northern Manchester. I guess those days are long gone though.