Rehab home (Pittsburgh, Washington, Indiana: real estate, for sale, trip)

[simplysweet2u]

Greetings,

I am looking to purchase a rehab home in Pittsburgh, PA. I am a long distance real estate investor. Me and my family are moving to PA soon. But right now I am investing in rehab homes in different areas. There is a house for sale on 2586 North Charles pittsburgh PA 15214. I am thinking of buying it, but is it worth the trip to even look at? Is this a war area? I can't figure out why the house is sooooo cheap. Sometimes when homes sell this cheap something aweful happened in the home, it's totally empty inside, a crackhouse or lots of taxes are owed. Does anyone know about this house or area? Please help

Thanks

[Hopes]

I'm not sure why the allegheny county real estate website has it listed as simply Charles Street, not North Charles Street. Regardless, the taxes have not been paid 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and possibly earlier than 2004 too. The entity that owns the property owns almost 30 properties under that name. Quite a few of the properties under that entity name are deliquent on taxes. It's not a good neighborhood by a long shot. I do not recommend buying this house. If you're interested in investing in Pittsburgh, we can recommend safter neighborhoods to focus your search.

btw, I found the tax information on the following site: Allegheny County Assessment

[CaptainObvious]

Here's what I can tell you about that house.

It is NOT even close to the Mexican War Streets. You can't fix that home up and get $250k for it. This home is in a....well...slummier area. My guess is it takes $50,000 just to get it up to code and similar homes in the area are going for about $40,000 total right now. It was built in 1890, doesn't appear that it has been kept up too well. Taxes haven't been paid on it in at least 4 years (or any other houses on that block for that matter) and it has been turned over to a collection agency. The last 3 owners were "investment firms". To boot, it appears there is a mobile trailer of some sort on the property.

Someday, you too can have the power of the internet cue: creepy music

Cap

[CaptainObvious]

Originally Posted by Hopes

btw, I found the tax information on the following site: Allegheny County Assessment

Awwwwwwwww, Hopes. You posted that as I was typing. Now my mysterious creepy knowledge of a random Northside house doesn't seem so creepy any more.

Cap

[simplysweet2u]

wow, thanks for all of your insight everyone. I one day too will learn your masterful skills. BTW, would you purchase any property from STEWARDSHIP FUND LP? And yes please recommend safe neighborhoods to invest in.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by simplysweet2u

wow, thanks for all of your insight everyone. I one day too will learn your masterful skills. BTW, would you purchase any property from STEWARDSHIP FUND LP? And yes please recommend safe neighborhoods to invest in.

Bellevue isn't bad, but the Stewardship Bellevue house doesn't look great on the outside. It's rated at a grade C condition though so it 'might' be worth checking out in person, but only if they're willing to sell it well below market value (90k). They only purchased it for 1.5k. It's a huge house with 12 rooms which is interesting, but the square footage is only 3000 so the rooms might be small. Of course, the taxes aren't paid but that could be resolved for the right price.

Allegheny County Assessment

The Belinda Street one one Mt. Washington isn't in an outright terrible neighborhood but the property appears to be a dump.

Nothing else appeals to me as being in a decent, safe neighborhood. The ones that might be considered borderline neighborhoods are in terrible condition---grade D or lower. The ones within Pittsburgh in wards are all in ghettos or very dangerous neighborhoods.

Safe neighborhoods with cheap property in no particular order:

Brighton Heights
West View
Verona
Etna
Millvale
Reserve
Sharpsburg (more drug oriented but safe if you're intersted in owning rental property for income)
Cheswick (perhaps---it's been a while since I was up that way)
Springdale (perhaps--it's been a while since I was up that way)
Morningside
Highland Park (depends, maybe)

There are penty of great areas in Pittsburgh. For instance, you might luck out and find something in West Deer, Indiana Township or even O'Hara. These are suburban townships that have some very rural areas. You could find a very run down property for a bargain---depends.

I only listed the areas that are run down (except West Deer, Indiana and O'Hara aren't really run down areas---there's just some old run down farms houses sprinkled about in those townships) and likely to have bargain real estate. I also only focused on the Northern side of Allegheny County because I'm most familiar with that area. Someone else can clue you in on other parts of the county.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by CaptainObvious

Awwwwwwwww, Hopes. You posted that as I was typing. Now my mysterious creepy knowledge of a random Northside house doesn't seem so creepy any more.

Too funny, CO!

[simplysweet2u]

I so glad I asked. This is exactly what I needed to hear. The website is helpful. Do you guys know anything about Braddock. I came across another property there really cheap. 312 COMRIE AVE BRADDOCK, PA. I checked the site, no comps available. Is this a safe neighborhood, good for investing?

Thanks for all the knowledgeable replies!

[Hopes]

I'm not as familiar with that area, but I'll say no. It doesn't have a good reputation. I don't know if it's safe or not though. Someone else can offer you better information on Braddock regarding safety. Regardless, if you're interested in investing via the rehab/resell route, I doubt you'll have much luck reselling a property in Braddock. I'm basing this opinion on the low assessement values for all of the properties on the street. It appears to be downright depressed in that area! There's a huge difference in assessement values between this street and the first one you asked about. This street in Braddock is making the Charles property look like it's upper class.

[simplysweet2u]

This street in Braddock is making the Charles property look like it's upper class.


LOL