Will you become a victim of Pittsburgh's housing boom? (Allentown: home, neighborhood)

[eccotecc]

Sure you landed that job, but I really feel for our young folks. They have no chance. Best to have really rich parents.[/quote]


h_curtis,

You're right, just rich doesn't help anymore, parents need to be really rich.

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Even people with money have limits on how they want to spend their money. Not many want to burn a grand a month.

I have friends in Evanston, Illinois who pay well over $1000 a month for property taxes. They're certainly not thrilled about it, but they are happy there. People will pay it if they feel there is value there. I think we can agree on that, but you seem to think the value isn't there in Pittsburgh. If the market is appreciating then buyers must believe there is value in spite of the high property taxes.

[eccotecc]

[quote=h_curtis;25169931] We are in some odd funk. State liquor, huge taxes and beer distributors. Goodness. Really an odd state and region.

h_curtis,

Yea, after paying our taxes we can't drown our sorrows because we can't go to the grocery store to buy adult beverage.

I propose FC have a whiskey rebellion.

[selltheburgh]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

This isn't what happens to areas like you describe during a housing boom. What happens is this: those areas with good proximity to downtown or to public transportation (like the T) see the property bought for the land value, which at a certain phase of the boom becomes much more valuable than anything built atop it. Then the crappy houses get torn down and get replaced with big homes or townhomes.

I watched it happen from 1995-2005 in my Tampa neighborhood that used to be filled with smallish 1950's era ranches. The neighborhood was 5 miles from downtown and a short distance to 2 bridges that connected to Clearwater and St. Petersburg. The location was great. The land became worth much more than the homes.

The same thing will happen in areas with 50's era housing relatively close to the city in Pittsburgh should a boom get going. It will be a way for a homeowner to have a large modern house very close to the city.

You forgot about the fact that:

In 1950 when post-war housing was built, Tampa had a population of 124,000 and Pittsburgh had a population of 676,806.

In 2010 Tampa's population is 335,00 and Pittsburgh had a population of 334,000 in 2000 and it hasn't changed much in the last decade.

We lost half our population in 60 years and Tampa almost tripled.

Looking at suburban counties:
Allegheny County was 1.5M in 1950 and is 1.2M currently.
Hillsboro County had 249k in 1950 and 1.2M currently

That means that there are almost 5x as many people living there than 60 years ago, which with supply and demand means that the land is worth much more and justifies tearing down post war houses to build more modern and expensive homes.

[trackstar13]

Selltheburgh

Your comparison of Pittsburgh to Tampa is not a very good one. First of all, Hillsborough County is over 250 square miles larger than Allegheny County, give or take a few miles depending on the source. Also, the topography in Allegheny County is much different and there are many areas like the hillsides of Mount Washington that are simply too steep to be built on. Allegheny County is not only limited by the loss of the Steel Industry, there are many areas that may never be developed due to the terrain. In addition to Tampa having much more buildable area, it is also a jumping off point for many tourists and retirees. Allegheny County will never be home to MLB Spring Training or become a hotspot for winter vacationers. On a final note, the city of Tampa is over 100 square miles bigger than Pittsburgh. If you simply expanded the borders of Pittsburgh by 100 square miles it would be larger than Tampa in terms of population. This is the problem when people simply look at population numbers and say wow look at what has happened to Pittsburgh compared to Tampa.

[trackstar13]

To add to my last post, what Goinback2011 talks about in terms of houses getting torn down and replaced is already happening in many areas of North Hills and to some extent certain areas of the South Hills.

[Goinback2011]

Allegheny County was 1.5M in 1950 and is 1.2M currently.
Hillsboro County had 249k in 1950 and 1.2M currently

Both areas expanded outward in that timeframe. In 1950, most of the current Pittsburgh exurbs were farms, just as the exurbs in Hillsborough County were farms at that time.

The point is, not everyone wants to live so freaking far from the city center, but they also don't want to live in old or small and dumpy 1950's housing. The answer is: knock the little crappy houses down and build bigger, modern ones. This will happen in Pittsburgh as the population grows again and the traffic gets worse.

[SteelCityRising]

As one of several on this sub-forum who is in the process of house-hunting I can say that I have seen myself priced out of neighborhoods that I wouldn't have been priced out of a decade ago. I never would have been able to afford Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, or Point Breeze, for example, but back around 2000 there would have been options in my price range (<$75,000) available in Bloomfield, Lawrenceville, Polish Hill, East Liberty, or Friendship. Try finding a home for that price today in those neighborhoods. It's just not going to happen, and if it DOES happen it will generally fly off the market quickly. I'm not even so sure if all of the Lower North Side and South Side were cost-prohibitive to entry-level homebuyers a decade ago.

With that being said my new strategy is to buy a dirt cheap first home fixer-upper in Elliott, Sheraden, Allentown, Swissvale, Wilkinsburg, Hazelwood, or a few other select neighborhoods, pay it off as quickly as I can, and then purchase a lot from the URA here in Polish Hill to build a microhouse upon it in the future years.

[eccotecc]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

As one of several on this sub-forum who is in the process of house-hunting I can say that I have seen myself priced out of neighborhoods that I wouldn't have been priced out of a decade ago. I never would have been able to afford Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, or Point Breeze, for example, but back around 2000 there would have been options in my price range (<$75,000) available in Bloomfield, Lawrenceville, Polish Hill, East Liberty, or Friendship. Try finding a home for that price today in those neighborhoods. It's just not going to happen, and if it DOES happen it will generally fly off the market quickly. I'm not even so sure if all of the Lower North Side and South Side were cost-prohibitive to entry-level homebuyers a decade ago.

With that being said my new strategy is to buy a dirt cheap first home fixer-upper in Elliott, Sheraden, Allentown, Swissvale, Wilkinsburg, Hazelwood, or a few other select neighborhoods, pay it off as quickly as I can, and then purchase a lot from the URA here in Polish Hill to build a microhouse upon it in the future years.

Steelcityrising,

There's a nice looking, cottage/craftsman style house for sale in Hazelwood I saw on realtor. com. Its price is 89,000 but I bet you could easily get it for 70,000 or less. Check it out at zip code 15207. Happy Hunting......

[Tirade]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

As one of several on this sub-forum who is in the process of house-hunting I can say that I have seen myself priced out of neighborhoods that I wouldn't have been priced out of a decade ago. I never would have been able to afford Shadyside, Squirrel Hill, or Point Breeze, for example, but back around 2000 there would have been options in my price range (<$75,000) available in Bloomfield, Lawrenceville, Polish Hill, East Liberty, or Friendship. Try finding a home for that price today in those neighborhoods. It's just not going to happen, and if it DOES happen it will generally fly off the market quickly. I'm not even so sure if all of the Lower North Side and South Side were cost-prohibitive to entry-level homebuyers a decade ago.

With that being said my new strategy is to buy a dirt cheap first home fixer-upper in Elliott, Sheraden, Allentown, Swissvale, Wilkinsburg, Hazelwood, or a few other select neighborhoods, pay it off as quickly as I can, and then purchase a lot from the URA here in Polish Hill to build a microhouse upon it in the future years.

I'm surprised that Brookline isn't on that list. You can still get a non-fixer upper there with your budget, plus it's a stable, walkable neighborhood.