Canadian Family Moving to Pitt area. Help! (Pittsburgh, Lebanon: rent, how much)

[MrSame]

We have been offered a job in the Pittsburgh area and we are trying to learn about the area before we decide to move. We have a few questions hoping that some of you can help.

We will need to commute to Cannonsburg as my office will be located there. We are a young family of 4. Children are 5 and 3 and we are late 20's. Our housing budget will be between $300,000-$400,000. We want to live in a place where the schools are very high quality. Education is our most important concern for our children. Secondly we would like to live in a trendy neighborhood with lot's of other young family's. We do not know anything about the area so we hope to gain some insight on where is the better places to live in this area. Anything you can tell us would be appreciated.

[Hopes]

OMG! First of all, you need to realize that your housing budget is HUGE for the low cost of living here. Don't make the mistake of spending too much money on a house here.

My girlfriend moved here from Canada. She bought a house for WAY MORE THAN IT WAS WORTH (hundreds of thousands more!) because it seemed like a good deal compared to the high housing prices in Canada.

Furthermore, our property tax structure is high. If you buy too large of a house (simply because it seems like a good deal compared to housing costs in Canada), you'll end up with a higher cost of living here because taxes and utilities cost more here.



Anyways, the best school districts within a nice commute to Canonsburg are Peters Township, Mt. Lebanon, and Sewickley.

Since Peters Township has the newer housing developments, that's where you'll find more the younger families.

Not really trendy (very little is trendy here), but Peters that's where the good schools and families with children will be found near Canonsburg.

[Hopes]

btw, what's happening in Canonsburg?

You're the third person within the past few weeks moving in from out of town who will be working in Canonsburg.

Since Canonsburg is not exactly a busy town with many corporations, something noteworthy is going on down there.

[gameguy56]

Originally Posted by Hopes

btw, what's happening in Canonsburg?

You're the third person within the past few weeks moving in from out of town who will be working in Canonsburg.

Since Canonsburg is not exactly a busy town with many corporations, something noteworthy is going on down there.

Umm....have you heard of Consol Energy?

[MrSame]

Thanks allot for the reply. You might have saved us a ton of money. It's good to know about utilities and taxes being higher. Where we currently live housing is around $500,000 for a 1500 Sqft new house built well and finished nicely. Utilities are $500 per month for gas and electricity. Taxes are $3000 per year. How much of an increase can I expect on utilities and taxes?

Originally Posted by Hopes

OMG! First of all, you need to realize that your housing budget is HUGE for the low cost of living here. Don't make the mistake of spending too much money on a house here.

My girlfriend moved here from Canada. She bought a house for WAY MORE THAN IT WAS WORTH (hundreds of thousands more!) because it seemed like a good deal compared to the high housing prices in Canada.

Furthermore, our property tax structure is high. If you buy too large of a house (simply because it seems like a good deal compared to housing costs in Canada), you'll end up with a higher cost of living here because taxes and utilities cost more here.

I work for an oil field company. Our office is located there.



Anyways, the best school districts within a nice commute to Canonsburg are Peters Township, Mt. Lebanon, and Sewickley.

Since Peters Township has the newer housing developments, that's where you'll find more the younger families.

Not really trendy (very little is trendy here), but Peters that's where the good schools and families with children will be found near Canonsburg.

[gameguy56]

Originally Posted by Hopes

OMG! First of all, you need to realize that your housing budget is HUGE for the low cost of living here. Don't make the mistake of spending too much money on a house here.

My girlfriend moved here from Canada. She bought a house for WAY MORE THAN IT WAS WORTH (hundreds of thousands more!) because it seemed like a good deal compared to the high housing prices in Canada.

Furthermore, our property tax structure is high. If you buy too large of a house (simply because it seems like a good deal compared to housing costs in Canada), you'll end up with a higher cost of living here because taxes and utilities cost more here.



Anyways, the best school districts within a nice commute to Canonsburg are Peters Township, Mt. Lebanon, and Sewickley.

Since Peters Township has the newer housing developments, that's where you'll find more the younger families.

Not really trendy (very little is trendy here), but Peters that's where the good schools and families with children will be found near Canonsburg.

Hopes... You forgot Upper St. Clair!

In fact, I would say that Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon, and Peters Township are all really excellent school districts in the South Hills. The major difference between the communities is how much of a walkable "town" feel you want. Mt. Lebanon is a full service little village with a trolly stop and a nice little downtown area. The homes are going to be older though. Peters has the newer homes but not much in the way of a real town center. Upper St. Clair is somewhere in between.

[greg42]

South Fayette is another good school district heading down that way, but Peters allows you to be in Washington County where the taxes should be a little less. Should be plenty of young families in either place. And neither of them are really so far away from the city that you couldn't enjoy events and activities there fairly readily.

I dunno, I think your utils budget is about right on for gas and electric, maybe it'll run a little more. You'll be looking at public water/sewer most likely, another utility cost that'll run perhaps $100 together if you're not used to it. But yeah you're going to need more than $3k for property taxes even in Peters for a house in your price range. Maybe someone has a better idea. I'm going to take a guess and say about $5000 for Peters and likely add $1k or more for South Fayette (and even more if you start looking at Mt Lebanon). Very very rough estimates, those but should put you in the right direction. Don't be surprised if they actually turn out even higher than that.

There are plenty of $300k houses down there, to be sure, but they should have like 3000 sq ft for that kind of price, I would think (or maybe a few acres of land). That is in Peters, not so much Mt Lebanon where houses will cost somewhat more. Whatever you're deciding on, to go cheaper or to get a larger house, it is important not to overpay because you're used to higher prices.

[Velvet Jones]

Originally Posted by greg42

South Fayette is another good school district heading down that way, but Peters allows you to be in Washington County where the taxes should be a little less. Should be plenty of young families in either place. And neither of them are really so far away from the city that you couldn't enjoy events and activities there fairly readily.

I dunno, I think your utils budget is about right on for gas and electric, maybe it'll run a little more. You'll be looking at public water/sewer most likely, another utility cost that'll run perhaps $100 together if you're not used to it. But yeah you're going to need more than $3k for property taxes even in Peters for a house in your price range. Maybe someone has a better idea. I'm going to take a guess and say about $5000 for Peters and likely add $1k or more for South Fayette (and even more if you start looking at Mt Lebanon). Very very rough estimates, those but should put you in the right direction. Don't be surprised if they actually turn out even higher than that.

There are plenty of $300k houses down there, to be sure, but they should have like 3000 sq ft for that kind of price, I would think (or maybe a few acres of land). Whatever you're deciding on, to go cheaper or to get a larger house, it is important not to overpay because you're used to higher prices.

The taxes in South Fayette are bad, and going to get worse. The SD just approved a 2.3 mill increase. That's nearly a $1000 are year increase on a house assessed at $300k. Even with the current millage you are looking at close to $10k a year in taxes on a $300k house. Most of the better districts in Allegheny county will be equally high tax, with the exception of Quaker Valley and North Allegheny, which are two of the lowest in the county.

[bradjl2009]

Welcome to Pittsburgh! I've been to Canada many times and love it there. Could I ask where in Canada you're coming from? Based on your utilities and taxes in Canada, you probably won't experience that big of a shock. At least you will find gas prices to be lower here even though we think they are high.

[Sideblinded]

Gas is less expensive, health care is more expensive. Huge tax break on income taxes for your mortgage.

I personally would rent in an area you like for a 6 months to a year and get a better grip on what you are gaining and losing in terms of expenses. It will also make you a more savvy home buyer!

And welcome to Pittsburgh!