East Allegheny (Deutschtown) (Duquesne, Bloomfield, Lawrenceville: loan, house, transfer)

[ferraris]

I think you could go *way* lower on the price on this house. I looked at a home listed for $40K in East Deutschtown this summer, 824 Suismon, and it sold in October for just $20K. It was of similar size and condition, with the exception of a 2nd bathroom and a very usable but unfinished attic space.

[sparrowmint]

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

I think you could go *way* lower on the price on this house. I looked at a home listed for $40K in East Deutschtown this summer, 824 Suismon, and it sold in October for just $20K. It was of similar size and condition, with the exception of a 2nd bathroom and a very usable but unfinished attic space.

Sort of depends on the owner. Obviously he's trying to make a good sized profit for not doing much at all, and unless the house sits on the market for longer (only was listed in October), I can't imagine him giving up 2/3rds of his profit goal. Not like he's living there and wanting to move quickly, necessarily, he lives in DC according to the Allegheny assessment site. I would agree that $25K or so is closer to what it's ideally worth, considering the lack of improvements etc

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

I think you could go *way* lower on the price on this house. I looked at a home listed for $40K in East Deutschtown this summer, 824 Suismon, and it sold in October for just $20K. It was of similar size and condition, with the exception of a 2nd bathroom and a very usable but unfinished attic space.

Thanks for this helpful information! For the out-of-town owner to have just purchased this in early-2011 for $10,000 only to then list it now for four times as much without pouring improvements into it may mean he's a bit unrealistic with his expectations. With that being said I'm not talking about a huge difference in my monthly payments if I were to buy the house for $30,000 vs. $35,000, for example, and since I plan to live in the home for quite a number of years I'm sure it will appreciate healthily beyond that in the coming years as the surrounding neighborhood improves and as I renovate.

[Goodjules]

Get your realtor to provide comps of recent sales of similar homes. I may have missed it, but nowhere in your financial analysis did I see you budgeting for repairs and improvements to the home, not to mention maintenance. Even if you do most of the work yourself, you'll still have the cost of materials. And, there will be some things that you will have to hire professionals to do. Not saying it's a bad investment, just don't let your excitement get the best of you.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by juliegt

Get your realtor to provide comps of recent sales of similar homes. I may have missed it, but nowhere in your financial analysis did I see you budgeting for repairs and improvements to the home, not to mention maintenance. Even if you do most of the work yourself, you'll still have the cost of materials. And, there will be some things that you will have to hire professionals to do. Not saying it's a bad investment, just don't let your excitement get the best of you.

Thanks, Julie! Thanks, also, for the helpful DM you sent to me yesterday! That most certainly is an option, although it's on the wrong side of town from where I'd like to locate myself.

I'm budgeting to receive a raise this year, I'm budgeting to be paying less on my mortgage than I currently pay in rent, I'm budgeting working my second job again (just on weekends), etc. I'm not at all concerned about not having money available for repairs and improvements. While I'm pretty financially independent I know I could always turn to a loan from my parents as a last resort if the furnace goes two days after I move in, and I'd pay them back with interest.

Right now the biggest anchors financially for me are my car and food. As I said I'd consider selling my car upon buying the house and transferring Downtown with my employer, as my partner will still have his car for weekend necessities and errands. In regards to food I just started using a site called Mint.com which helps you really keep track of your spending, and I'm admittedly spending WAY too much right now on pizza, fast food, Starbucks, non-essential groceries, and restaurant meals. I spent nearly $600 on food in December, which is asinine, and I know I'll be on a better track in that regard in the new year.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by sparrowmint

Sort of depends on the owner. Obviously he's trying to make a good sized profit for not doing much at all, and unless the house sits on the market for longer (only was listed in October), I can't imagine him giving up 2/3rds of his profit goal. Not like he's living there and wanting to move quickly, necessarily, he lives in DC according to the Allegheny assessment site. I would agree that $25K or so is closer to what it's ideally worth, considering the lack of improvements etc

Good point, if I remember correctly that house I looked at was an estate, so they were probably motivated to sell quickly. But it's still worth noting. A similar house being sold on the market recently for half the price that the one SCR is looking at is good news for him.

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Thanks for this helpful information! For the out-of-town owner to have just purchased this in early-2011 for $10,000 only to then list it now for four times as much without pouring improvements into it may mean he's a bit unrealistic with his expectations.

There is the possibility that the new owner has done things that aren't visible (roofing, plumbing, electrical). Obviously that's not the smartest way to flip a house for profit, but if any of that has been done it would be good for you and it would explain why he's expecting so much more now.

With that being said I'm not talking about a huge difference in my monthly payments if I were to buy the house for $30,000 vs. $35,000, for example, and since I plan to live in the home for quite a number of years I'm sure it will appreciate healthily beyond that in the coming years as the surrounding neighborhood improves and as I renovate.

The difference in monthly payment would be negligible (maybe $25/month), but with your goal of being debt free by 35 an extra $5K makes a big difference, as does that $25 you aren't putting towards student loans or retirement. People saying "Oh, $X extra a month isn't really that big of a deal" is part of what contributes to high housing costs.

Don't budget assuming appreciation, and don't budget assuming you'll get a promotion or raise. East Deutschtown may not appreciate at all; it also may see some sort of top down development with entities like our local newspapers touting the area as full of buildings that could be demolished for park and rides. You might find yourself in an eminent domain battle in 10 years if you buy this house

[steindle]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

I wouldn't want to live there without a car, lugging groceries a half mile over the interstate seems a bit too energetic for me--maybe you think differently.

First off, I don't really understand the significance of the interstate in this equation -- as far as people who live in the Northside are concerned, "the interstate" is a bridge that's like a quarter of a city block long. What does that even matter?

Furthermore, the walk from the Cedar Ave Giant Eagle to this place would be 12 minutes long. I regularly walk from the Strip District to Troy Hill (~40 minutes) lugging groceries with me -- I'm not in bad shape, but I'm not an athlete. At one time in the not-so-distant Pittsburgh past, taking a 15-minute walk to get some groceries would have been a decent luxury rather than some epic feat.

If that's too hard for you, take the 6 (Spring Hill) -- it literally goes door to door, from the Giant Eagle to Chestnut & Tripoli, in 7 minutes. And it runs regularly until almost 1AM every night.

[sparrowmint]

Originally Posted by ferrarisnowday

There is the possibility that the new owner has done things that aren't visible (roofing, plumbing, electrical). Obviously that's not the smartest way to flip a house for profit, but if any of that has been done it would be good for you and it would explain why he's expecting so much more now.

Possible, but if so, someone isn't doing a very good job at selling houses (whether the owner or realtor or both) because you'd think these would be selling points on the ads. The only "personal touch" given to the ads is "Nice mechanical needs a cosmetic upgrade" and info about the convenience of the location.

[Caladium]

I like that little "Grandma" house on Iten. Especially the killer view. What's that neighborhood like?

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I do NOT like just how narrow the alley is, as I fear a plow wouldn't be able to make it down in the winter with parked cars, and I also do NOT like that there is literally ZERO yard. We don't want to be burdened with much of a yard, but just enough to let the dog do his business would have been nice. We would take frequent long walks over to the park.

As I said, there is a city lot literally outside your front door. While I think it would be dicey to park your car there, there would be zero issue I would presume with using it as your dog's pooping station. Besides someone from DPW coming by and trimming the grass every so often, I doubt anyone from the City will ever go there.

Originally Posted by sparrowmint

The second bedroom is 12x10, btw, which is a bit small to rent out unfortunately. Well, depends on the person, I guess. 848 Blossom Way, East Allegheny, Pennsylvania 15212 (MLS# 936258) - Coldwell Banker Real Estate Services - PittsburghMoves.com

I think the bigger issue will be the bathroom is almost certainly captive off of the smaller bedroom in the back. I'm guessing given the narrowness of the house the stairs are set up "switchback" style in the middle of the house, running from party wall to party wall. Thus you get to the top of the landing, and there is a door to the left and right. I can't see, if the stairwell is in this configuration, how the bathroom wouldn't be accessible only off the smaller bathroom.

I lived in a similar "two up" without a dog leg in the back in Bloomfield. The ideal setup for these houses, if you must add a bathroom somewhere, is to hive space off a kitchen. You end up with a kitchen which is more breakfast-bar sized than the size for a full kitchen table, but you still get two large rooms upstairs, so it works out fine. Plus you don't need to drag the plumbing far.