Possibly moving to Pittsburgh, Need Help (Sewickley, Cheswick: for sale, houses, good schools)

[mikedean441]

I have a "friend" that currently lives near us in Cincy, OH that is working on potentially getting a job in Norther Pittsburgh. He is originally from Northeastern, OH, so his moves allows him to be closer to family.

He is married and has 2 young kids, so he wants to move somewhere with good schools. Ideally he wants to commute no more than 30 minutes to work, and would like to stay North or West of Pittsburgh, so that he is closer to family.

He has looked for houses on realtor.com but hasnt had much luck since he isnt familiar with area.

Ideally he is looking for homes built after the 70's in the $150-$200K range, and doesnt want to be house poor, so much have reasonable taxes too.

Im not real familiar with the area, so I thought Id try the fine folks on here

any advice?

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by mikedean441

Ideally he is looking for homes built after the 70's in the $150-$200K range, and doesnt want to be house poor, so much have reasonable taxes too.

After 1970's is tough especially if you want a thirty minute commute and you want the house to cost under 200,000.

I would look at Cheswick. Nice enough area. Not upscale by any means but fine schools. Right on 28 so getting to town is direct but you will hit traffic on 28. The reason for this pick is Cheswick's proximity to the turnpike.

[gameguy56]

The Moon, Robinson, Sewickley Hills, and Wexford Areas may be places to start his search.

[tranceFusion]

After 1970's is tough especially if you want a thirty minute commute and you want the house to cost under 200,000.

I would look at Cheswick. Nice enough area. Not upscale by any means but fine schools. Right on 28 so getting to town is direct but you will hit traffic on 28. The reason for this pick is Cheswick's proximity to the turnpike.

You can find houses built after 1970 for under $200k in most of the northern townships. Also, I see no reason to pick Cheswick for turnpike proximity when there are multiple turnpike exits west of there with same proximity to downtown and he is trying to be close to ohio.

I'm not normally a huge fan of Cranberry but it seems like a good fit for this situation.. low taxes, proximity to west end of turnpike, newer build, etc.

[stevo6]

Try Ross, Gibsonia, Westview, and Shaler.
In the city you might look at Highland Park, though I don't know anything about the school situation.

[robrobrob]

Certainly, Cranberry is a great choice because of its proximity to the turnpike. I was just worried about finding a single family house under 200,000. If the person wants to keep their budget closer to 150,000 then they might have to be open as to location, consider Cheswick, West Deer or other areas near turnpike exits.

[MissShona]

I wonder what his reasoning is for wanting a house built after the 1970s?

[greg42]

Well, for one thing it's pretty common for there to be houses up for sale where people have lived in them for 50 years or whatever, and they haven't been updated at all. I certainly found that when I was looking; some older houses still had old electrical systems, etc. I wasn't expressly looking for a newer house, but when one I liked came up in an area I liked and it happened to be newer, at least I knew I'd be familiar with things. I grew up in a house built in the 70s. Sometimes it's just a comfort level. I probably would have taken the plunge on an older house if it turned out to be what felt like a right one at the time, and now after a first experience I would be more interested in one. It just didn't turn out that way on my first go around.

[SorryIMovedBack]

I got an estimate of $10k to $12k to totally rewire an old foursquare that still had knob and tube wiring with rotted cloth insulation. Now that is an old electrical system.

Anything with a fuse box and BX armor cable is much less cost. In most cases, you replace the breaker box and add new circuits and receptacles in the heavy-use areas. You only need new wires inside a few boxes for the ceiling light fixtures, and maybe you replace some or all receptacles with grounded ones (the box itself is usually ground already) and you leave the existing BX cable there. Just add new wires as-needed. When I had a brick 1950 Cape Cod, it was only $2500 or so to put in a breaker panel and add some receptacles and circuits on the first floor. I left the second floor as-is. If your kids have a plethora of TVs and stereos and computers in their rooms, then you might need more power there.

If you get a rancher with a basement, rewire is so much easier than 2 storeys. So is heating and cooling.

You always lose money like 20% or so on a kitchen remodel, when you sell. Few of those are profitable. What a nice kitchen does is make the house easier to sell. I'd expect to see fewer brand new kitchens in sale homes now, because it's a big money loss.

In many cases, you can find somebody to spruce up a bathroom for relatively low cost.

Kids trash things, anyway.

[Craziaskowboi]

Try any place within a 10-minute drive of I-279.