Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Pittsburgh
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 01-19-2012, 02:02 AM
 
783 posts, read 2,017,626 times
Reputation: 657

Advertisements

I would not advise you to rent. Not in this market. Rental prices in Pittsburgh have skyrocketed. Many places that are very mediocre are going for more than $700 per month. If you can qualify for a mortgage, take it. You will save a lot of money in the long run and actually have an asset. Nothing, absolutely nothing, shows me that Pittsburgh's housing or rental markets will go down any time soon. The housing prices area rising steady, but the rental prices are going insane and few new complexes are being built to offset the rise in demand. As for locations, personally, I've always thought of Beechview as a great place. It annoys me when I hear Boy Mayor claim it as Pittsburgh's Hispanic Area. What are there, four hispanics there??? You can get a cheap place there and be right on the T line. It's just my opinion, but I think Beechview is a nicer version of Castle Shannon or Brentwood, which area two other areas for you to check out. Of course, you never said your budget. You may have $500k in the bank for all I know. Knowing your budget could possibly change everything.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 01-19-2012, 02:13 AM
 
Location: Kittanning
4,692 posts, read 9,011,419 times
Reputation: 3668
Personally, I find Brentwood, Brookline, Dormont, and Mt. Lebanon to be the nicest neighborhoods in the South Hills. Also, do not rule out Mt. Washington. Beechview is pretty decent, but I like the others better.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-19-2012, 05:46 AM
 
5,047 posts, read 5,778,062 times
Reputation: 3120
As a former landlord, I would never ever do it again. Some tenants were wonderful, some ; well lets just say after one tenant we had to put well over $20,000 of repairs into the house.

Just my two cents worth. When it is going great, it is fantastic. But when it is not, well ; make sure you have enough to cover the mortgage every single month without the help of the tenant.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-19-2012, 06:43 AM
 
5,894 posts, read 6,860,895 times
Reputation: 4107
Only looking at myself at your age so the circumstance may not apply but while I could have afforded a home it really made no sense as I was always open to a better paying job anywhere & being strapped to a house wouldn't have been feasible to moving quickly if needed. Further, you can rent cheap, maybe not the nicest place, but likewise if you're buying cheap it's not the nicest either. Whatever you can afford now you'll probably want something nicer in a few years & the other costs related to buying & selling a home (taxes, appraisels, closing costs, title searches & insurance, etc, etc) can add up rather unexpectedly & will be doubly so if you find yourself in the market for a new home a few years down the road.
I'd just rent cheaply for a couple of years, sock away as much as you can then purchase a nicer place with a readily available downpayment.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-19-2012, 07:15 AM
 
9,855 posts, read 15,182,463 times
Reputation: 5481
I am 25 now and bought in bloomfield when I was 23. I don't regret it for a second. Property values are rising sharply. I wouldn't think of living outside of bloomfield/shadyside/squirrel hill/lawrenceville/south side/downtown right now. I love being somewhere where I don't have to cross a river or really travel to get to where the action is. If I were you, I would focus on lawrenceville/bloomfield right now, merely because I think that will give the best return on investment over the next five years or so.

What is your price range? How much do you want to pay per month? That DOES make a difference on what neighborhood I would personally recommend.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-19-2012, 07:25 AM
 
Location: Mid-Atlantic
12,529 posts, read 17,494,404 times
Reputation: 10634
I love being somewhere where I don't have to cross a river or really travel to get to where the action is

Spoken like a true Pgher!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-19-2012, 07:34 AM
 
Location: Lawrenceville, Pittsburgh
2,109 posts, read 2,151,785 times
Reputation: 1845
Quote:
Originally Posted by Love2Golf09 View Post
You will save a lot of money in the long run and actually have an asset. Nothing, absolutely nothing, shows me that Pittsburgh's housing or rental markets will go down any time soon.
When I hear things like this I just have to

How do you think the housing market crashed? Advice like this that spiraled to a critical mass had more than a little to do with it. Makes me thing renting is a great option. Things like PAT cuts, highly uncertain property tax rates, and unexpected job losses or relocations of industries (what if regulation makes Marcelleus shale in this area no longer viable economically?) can have MASSIVE implications for property values.

It makes sense to buy a single family home if you do the numbers and you feel it makes sense. Personally, my model is based on a 15 year mortgage, zero increase in property value over the next 5 years, and a tax burden that may increase up to 50% over that same time horizon. These may not be realistic assumptions, but they make me comfortable. Once you factor in additional costs for upkeep and repair, the picture looks a little different.

If you want to become a landlord, you have a whole different set of things to look at. I don't really want to be a landlord, personally, at least not while I can still enjoy my 20's. Others may have a different take on that.

The point is, things aren't really cut and dry. Unless you're buying rental property, how can you view a home as an investment? It's just consumption financed over a long period. And that "asset" you have is little more than a piece of paper that gives you the right to rent (aka be taxed) by the local government who may or may not have your best interests in mind.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-19-2012, 07:52 AM
 
Location: ɥbɹnqsʇʇıd
4,599 posts, read 6,701,685 times
Reputation: 3521
The best time to be a landlord is when you are young and have energy to deal with all the craziness that comes with it. When you're older and sick of it, you can always sell the property.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-19-2012, 07:56 AM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,613 posts, read 77,439,770 times
Reputation: 19101
I suppose in my eyes as a 25-year-old who wishes to purchase his first home once this reassessment debacle is sorted out I view the $550/month in rent I pay as being thrown into the trash every month. I'd rather have a $550/month mortgage, knowing full well that eventually that $550/month obligation would disappear, giving me that as income to spend elsewhere (or invest) as well as an asset in my possession that should appreciate (at least slowly) over the years. I'm looking ideally for a 2-BR home where my partner and I could have one bedroom and we could rent out the other bedroom for additional rental income. Ideally if my mortgage/insurance/taxes totaled about $500/month (I'm looking at cheap homes), then I'd pay $250/month, our tenant would pay $250/month, and my partner would pay the utilities. That would free up an extra $300/month for me to more quickly pay down either my car loan or my student loans. One of my dreams is to be debt-free by age 30 (no car payments, no student loan payments, no credit card payments, no mortgage).

Renting makes more sense for those who would prefer to NOT be "tied" to the area long-term (i.e. if you're going to jump ship if someone in Green Bay or Tallahassee threw a higher salary your way). If you're looking to settle down here, though, then I don't foresee how renting makes more sense, especially when your monthly rent may (and often will) rise annually whereas a mortgage won't (unless you were foolish enough to get an ARM). I idolize AlleghenyAngel. His house is fully paid off, and I believe his car is too. All of his income just goes to utilities, taxes, and then pretty much on whatever he wants. I, on the other hand, have about $25,000 more debt to pay off split between student loans and a car loan, and that stresses me out immensely since I don't earn very much per month.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 01-19-2012, 08:00 AM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,613 posts, read 77,439,770 times
Reputation: 19101
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl View Post
The best time to be a landlord is when you are young and have energy to deal with all the craziness that comes with it. When you're older and sick of it, you can always sell the property.
Please tell this to my landlady so she'll sell me my apartment!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Pittsburgh

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:13 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top