North Point Breeze

[robrobrob]

As a person who cuts through N. Point Breeze a lot, you can thank Bakery Square for that, I have seen people improving the houses in N. Point Breeze. I have never lived there but I used to live in S. Point Breeze and used to walk to the busway in Homewood. If you are expecting N. Point Breeze to be the same as S. Point Breeze or Shadyside you will be disappointed. However, if you are drawn to the neighborhood for its location and for its potential then it would be a nice pick for you.

My only comment would be that prices in the N. Point Breeze have gone up significantly which means two things that the area is desirable and that it has become almost too expensive in my opinion. For 350,000 you can buy a house in S. Point Breeze. I am not sure if any houses have every sold for a million dollars in S. Point Breeze. I know of a couple that sold on S. Lexington for over 800,000. The house that you said would be worth a million in South Point Breeze would probably be worth about 500,000.

While the fact that their may be more black residents in N. Point Breeze may play a part I really think that the knock on the neighborhood has more to do with the fact that a lot of houses have not been rehabbed yet. This makes it afforable for people looking for an older house with a good location. You just can't compare it to the more established neighborhoods though.

[subdivisions]

Originally Posted by TimGyves

We still get teased by relatives of my wife who grew up in decidedly blue collar Pittsburgh but now live out in McMansion land, wondering why we chose to live in "East Liberty"

Amusingly enough, we've recently decided that we might give East Liberty (the actual neighborhood) a try next. We need a bigger house and we want to buy before prices really start going up in the 'burgh (and in E. Lib more specifically). And I had so much fun renovating this one that I want to do something bigger and uglier next time. We know E. Lib is very transitional still, but we feel that we have the right kind of attitude and personalities to be a positive force for change in that type of neighborhood. And having no kids to worry about really helps in terms of being able to make those kind of choices!

I think we're going to try to sell next year - milk the rising N. Point Breeze price index as much as possible while still getting in relatively low in East Liberty. If we can find the right place, we'll probably try to buy a fixer-upper and do a complete gut job.

[SteelCityRising]

^ UGH! We need someone like you here in Polish Hill to buy one of the decaying rowhomes across the street from me and fix 'em up!

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Originally Posted by robrobrob

If you are expecting N. Point Breeze to be the same as S. Point Breeze or Shadyside you will be disappointed. However, if you are drawn to the neighborhood for its location and for its potential then it would be a nice pick for you.

... the knock on the neighborhood has more to do with the fact that a lot of houses have not been rehabbed yet...You just can't compare it to the more established neighborhoods though.

Fully agreed. It's not a comparable neighborhood to the nicer East End neighborhoods yet, and may never be given its proximity to Homewood. But it's definitely not a war zone either.

Originally Posted by robrobrob

I am not sure if any houses have every sold for a million dollars in S. Point Breeze. I know of a couple that sold on S. Lexington for over 800,000. The house that you said would be worth a million in South Point Breeze would probably be worth about 500,000..

There was a house comparable to my neighbor's house in size, located just 1 block south of Penn on the same street, that sold last year for nearly $800K. I saw the pictures of both of the interiors, and IMO my neighbor's house was significantly nicer and more modern, although their overall lot size is at least twice as small as the S. PBZ comp.

I admit, perhaps a million was a bit of an exaggeration, though. But I bet it would be worth quite a bit more than half a million in S. Point Breeze - a couple of 3 bedroom townhomes sold last year on the same street for $500K, again, interiors not as updated as my neighbor's house, but very attractive architecturally.

Anyway, I was also going to say that it seems like prices in the East End in general have gone up quite a bit in the last year or so, both purchases and rentals. I suspect that part of N. Point Breeze's upswing is also because it is riding on the coattails of the entire area.

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Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

^ UGH! We need someone like you here in Polish Hill to buy one of the decaying rowhomes across the street from me and fix 'em up!

Funny you should say that...

My inlaws are moving into town in two months, and they need an inexpensive, but safe city neighborhood with easy access to downtown (nephew has been accepted to CAPA). They are not too picky about looks, just need someplace where they can fix up a house and won't get shot or robbed doing it.

I wanted to recommend Polish Hill to them, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to search real estate listings for that neighborhood. It seems to only exist on paper (kind of like how Swisshelm Park is only known to the locals).

Any clue how I could go about looking for property listings in Polish Hill that I could send them?

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by subdivisions

Funny you should say that...

My inlaws are moving into town in two months, and they need an inexpensive, but safe city neighborhood with easy access to downtown (nephew has been accepted to CAPA). They are not too picky about looks, just need someplace where they can fix up a house and won't get shot or robbed doing it.

I wanted to recommend Polish Hill to them, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to search real estate listings for that neighborhood. It seems to only exist on paper (kind of like how Swisshelm Park is only known to the locals).

Any clue how I could go about looking for property listings in Polish Hill that I could send them?

Sadly there are only a few listings currently available in Polish Hill, and those two rowhomes I referenced aren't amongst them, as they are both owned by people who'd apparently rather let them sit and decay than to sell them to someone who WOULD renovate them. Your best bet is the map search feature on Howard Hanna. That shows you pretty much every listing in the city (from ALL real estate sources before moderation implies I'm advertising). For some reason or other Polish Hill is considered a sub-neighborhood of Lawrenceville.

Here are the only neighborhood listings thus far:

Lawrenceville Real Estate - 319 Harmar St, Lawrenceville, PA, 15219

(A PINK home that's been for sale for a while).

Downtown Pgh Real Estate - 3424-3430 Melwood Ave, Downtown Pgh, PA, 15219

(An overpriced 4-unit).

Lawrenceville Real Estate - 3713 Melwood, Lawrenceville, PA, 15213

(This one may work for them, but it's on the very edge of the neighborhood, near to North Oakland).

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Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

.

Here are the only neighborhood listings thus far:

Thanks! I didn't know it was listed as Lawrenceville.

I actually sent them that pink one last week, without realizing that it was actually a Polish Hill listing. That one looked fun and quirky and like it maybe had some potential. Looks like it needs a LOT of work on the inside, though. Faux wood paneling just doesn't quite do it anymore these days.

[greg42]

That 3713 Melwood has been for sale forever as well. I remember driving by it being for sale at least as early as last summer, if not before then.