Houses on Sale for $20,000? (Pittsburgh, Braddock: fit in, loan, employment)

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

you're right about the housing stock there. people dont really find sherden attractive, though. its just too far from anything - i can deal with ghetto (i do now), but without a big advantage in location, its just not on the radar. that place is a big disappointment. my perspective might be swayed more by other people's perception, though - i knew people from there who were unhappy or are unhappy about it. but they might be the minority - who knows.

How is Sheraden "far from anything"? I still don't understand the perspective that the West End neighborhoods are "out there." You are 5 minutes from downtown, 5 minutes from the North Side, and 5 minutes from the South Side. You are also really close to Robinson and the airport.

I don't get it. Nobody says Robinson or Kennedy or Fox Chapel or Sewickley are out there, and those are further out. Even East Liberty or Shadyside is further from downtown than Sheraden.

I think what people really mean is it's not in the East End.

[SteelCityRising]

I think the problem I've noticed over the course of the past few years is just that competition for lower-priced properties is getting fiercer. Even since moving here in 2010 our lovely city has gained a lot of positive national recognition for its "affordable" housing, which drew some migrants here during the recession. At the same time investors/flippers also started noticing Pittsburgh in the 2000s. Now it seems like nearly every home I look at on Zillow or Trulia is under contract within days, even in the "sketchy" areas, and often via cash buyers. I'd personally buy in Sheraden, Elliott, Allentown, Spring Hill, or other supposedly "bad" neighborhoods in a heartbeat; how will these neighborhoods EVER turn around if a fresh wave of enthusiastic young homeowners doesn't want to breathe new life into them?

I'm just becoming anxious because I've noticed the pool of neighborhoods in my budget thinning year by year as overall property values climb here. A decade ago I could have even bought in the East End. Now even homes in Garfield and Homewood are selling for much more than less dangerous neighborhoods outside the East End.

PreservationPioneer, you really can't blame people for desiring proximity to the East End, as it is a major employment center, is home to a few of the city's best parks, and is our cultural epicenter. For as much as I may mock the yoga/Prius/vegan/food co-op/organic/fair trade/latte/fro-yo/Whole Foods/toy poodle "group-think" ambiance here I'm not so certain I'd survive in a part of town housing parking chairs/empty Pabst Blue Ribbon cans/people loitering on weekdays/people banging pots and pans out windows when "we" score a touchdown/Steelers pajama pants in public/chain-smoking/etc. I desire to live neither around yuppietropolis OR Yinzer white-trash heaven, and there are just so few neighborhoods in between it seems. When I first moved to Polish Hill it seemed perfect, but now it seems to be housing more and more of the "my suburban parents are rich, so I'm going to play hipster in the city" vibe. Maybe I'm just Goldilocks?

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I think the problem I've noticed over the course of the past few years is just that competition for lower-priced properties is getting fiercer. Even since moving here in 2010 our lovely city has gained a lot of positive national recognition for its "affordable" housing, which drew some migrants here during the recession. At the same time investors/flippers also started noticing Pittsburgh in the 2000s. Now it seems like nearly every home I look at on Zillow or Trulia is under contract within days, even in the "sketchy" areas, and often via cash buyers. I'd personally buy in Sheraden, Elliott, Allentown, Spring Hill, or other supposedly "bad" neighborhoods in a heartbeat; how will these neighborhoods EVER turn around if a fresh wave of enthusiastic young homeowners doesn't want to breathe new life into them?

I'm just becoming anxious because I've noticed the pool of neighborhoods in my budget thinning year by year as overall property values climb here. A decade ago I could have even bought in the East End. Now even homes in Garfield and Homewood are selling for much more than less dangerous neighborhoods outside the East End.

PreservationPioneer, you really can't blame people for desiring proximity to the East End, as it is a major employment center, is home to a few of the city's best parks, and is our cultural epicenter. For as much as I may mock the yoga/Prius/vegan/food co-op/organic/fair trade/latte/fro-yo/Whole Foods/toy poodle "group-think" ambiance here I'm not so certain I'd survive in a part of town housing parking chairs/empty Pabst Blue Ribbon cans/people loitering on weekdays/people banging pots and pans out windows when "we" score a touchdown/Steelers pajama pants in public/chain-smoking/etc. I desire to live neither around yuppietropolis OR Yinzer white-trash heaven, and there are just so few neighborhoods in between it seems. When I first moved to Polish Hill it seemed perfect, but now it seems to be housing more and more of the "my suburban parents are rich, so I'm going to play hipster in the city" vibe. Maybe I'm just Goldilocks?

I always thought I lived in Pittsburgh, but then I read this and have no idea what Pittsburgh you are describing......

NONE of this happens where I live...or at least in this concentration....there is an elderly lady on my block who uses a parking chair, even though there are 10 empty spots on each side of "her space," people smoke everywhere, my neighbors have a Prius, a large number of people do yoga anymore, and I shop at a organic food co-op and Whole Foods, but drink PBR...

This over-arching generalizations of Pittsburgh crack me up...there are plenty of places, and plenty of people who are and do the very things you describe. It is also possible to not live in the East End and enjoy the things that make it the mecca that it is described as...FYI....they sell Fro-Yo in Dormont if that is what you are looking for....

[The King of Um]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I think the problem I've noticed over the course of the past few years is just that competition for lower-priced properties is getting fiercer. Even since moving here in 2010 our lovely city has gained a lot of positive national recognition for its "affordable" housing, which drew some migrants here during the recession. At the same time investors/flippers also started noticing Pittsburgh in the 2000s. Now it seems like nearly every home I look at on Zillow or Trulia is under contract within days, even in the "sketchy" areas, and often via cash buyers. I'd personally buy in Sheraden, Elliott, Allentown, Spring Hill, or other supposedly "bad" neighborhoods in a heartbeat; how will these neighborhoods EVER turn around if a fresh wave of enthusiastic young homeowners doesn't want to breathe new life into them?

I'm just becoming anxious because I've noticed the pool of neighborhoods in my budget thinning year by year as overall property values climb here. A decade ago I could have even bought in the East End. Now even homes in Garfield and Homewood are selling for much more than less dangerous neighborhoods outside the East End.

PreservationPioneer, you really can't blame people for desiring proximity to the East End, as it is a major employment center, is home to a few of the city's best parks, and is our cultural epicenter. For as much as I may mock the yoga/Prius/vegan/food co-op/organic/fair trade/latte/fro-yo/Whole Foods/toy poodle "group-think" ambiance here I'm not so certain I'd survive in a part of town housing parking chairs/empty Pabst Blue Ribbon cans/people loitering on weekdays/people banging pots and pans out windows when "we" score a touchdown/Steelers pajama pants in public/chain-smoking/etc. I desire to live neither around yuppietropolis OR Yinzer white-trash heaven, and there are just so few neighborhoods in between it seems. When I first moved to Polish Hill it seemed perfect, but now it seems to be housing more and more of the "my suburban parents are rich, so I'm going to play hipster in the city" vibe. Maybe I'm just Goldilocks?

Regarding your Yinzer beer preference, actually, these days, it's the hipsters in places like Lawrenceville and the East End who drink that God awful Pabst Blue Ribbon. They drink it, of course, because it's "ironic."

But you're right, cheap houses are dwindling, and it is mostly because of investors. My agent has told me that buyers on the low end have fierce competition from investors. Actually, Blossom Way was purchased by an investor; it was sold by an investor as well. Vista St., too, was purchased as a rental. Personally, I think it's mostly investors, and not buyers like you and me, who are driving the prices higher and higher.

In all fairness, I think your characterization of Yinzers is a bit hyperbolic. Blue collar, working class people from this region are usually fine. They're not banging pots and pans out the windows. I know this because I live in a very working class area. If you want to move to a working class area such as Elliott, Marshall-Shadeland, Brighton Heights, Spring Hill, Spring Garden, or Troy Hill, and if you want to be happy in such an area, I expect you're going to have to be a little more accepting of these kinds of people, because they're very decent for the most part. It will take some getting used to, as it did for me, but you'll do just fine.

[PreservationPioneer]

Paul, you know I'm the only one out of the two of us that has lived in that kind of low income area, and you have not described the population demographic at all. For one thing, it can't be categorized and summarized and generalized like that. I have never heard anyone banging pots outside their windows. And in my neighborhood (and Stowe), nobody needs a lawn chair to designate parking, simply because there's no parking (or housing) shortage. We've got plenty.

Oh, and I see more people smoking outside of hospitals in the East End than anywhere else. And I drink Old Milwaukee, but the only thing I found on the street in Stowe over the years was old bags of Funyuns and somebody's weave.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by trlstreet

There are many areas within Sheraden that are safe to buy and I certainly wouldn't put it in the same category with Homewood and Hazelwood. Sheraden's decline is real but not as severe as other neighborhoods.

1. The cheapie houses in Sheraden currently listed are all (save one) in the bad side of Sheraden. It's more expensive to buy on the nice side.

2. Mortgaged property is effectively unsalable anywhere in the neighborhood, which does put it on the same level regarding real estate as say Knoxville. I agree in terms of livability it's more like Carrick in most places though.

[PreservationPioneer]

Yeah, but is the "bad" side of Sheraden really that much different than the good side? We like to create divisions within neighborhoods, but to be honest I don't see that much difference between the two sides of Sheraden.. Now, compare Sheraden to Windgap or Crafton Heights, and I see a difference.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

How is Sheraden "far from anything"? I still don't understand the perspective that the West End neighborhoods are "out there." You are 5 minutes from downtown, 5 minutes from the North Side, and 5 minutes from the South Side. You are also really close to Robinson and the airport.

I don't get it. Nobody says Robinson or Kennedy or Fox Chapel or Sewickley are out there, and those are further out. Even East Liberty or Shadyside is further from downtown than Sheraden.

I think what people really mean is it's not in the East End.

The West End being part of the city means that it gets judged by city standards by most people. It's super convenient by auto-centric suburban standards, though, no doubt about that.

[Hopes]

Doesn't everyone bang pots and pans on New Years?

[doo dah]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Doesn't everyone bang pots and pans on New Years?

Of course. It is what is done.