Housing crisis in Pittsburgh? Dont think so (Millvale, Troy: appointed, section 8)

[ThePointYouMissedMe]

I use both, but cut the grass more frequently. And sometimes the cheese.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by karen_in_nh_2012

I am curious, are there any older, established (but safe) neighborhoods with larger lots (half-acre or bigger)? Or would you HAVE to go with new construction for that?

It would be rare, but if you hunted long enough you could probably find one. We have a poster on here who was able to find a 4 car garage in the city a couple years ago.

[Goodjules]

I want this house. 130 Meade Ave - Property Details

[karen_in_nh_2012]

Originally Posted by Goodjules

I want this house. 130 Meade Ave - Property Details

Six bedrooms but only one bathroom??

It does have a lot of wonderful features (although that modern closet looked odd in context!). Too close to the neighbors for me though ... gotta have a large buffer zone.

[JimboPGH]

Originally Posted by karen_in_nh_2012

It does have a lot of wonderful features (although that modern closet looked odd in context!). Too close to the neighbors for me though ... gotta have a large buffer zone.

Us Pennsyltuckians ain't as misanthropic n'at as yunz New Englanders.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by Goodjules

I want this house. 130 Meade Ave - Property Details

Heating bills would be through the roof. And I don't see much appreciation in Bellevue.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Heating bills would be through the roof. And I don't see much appreciation in Bellevue.

That's a really important thing to take into account. I often forget about it since my heating bill from a large one bedroom apartment to a small two bedroom house didn't change very much. It makes the sting of seeing these beautiful homes for "cheap" a little easier to bear!

[SteelCityRising]

I know this thread was started to mock me, and I suppose I should just come clean and apologize for being melodramatic. When I moved here in 2010 I immediately fell in love with the brick sidewalks, aging (yet stately) tenements, and friendly people of Polish Hill---not to mention the beauty of the church and the gorgeous views of the Allegheny Valley and Troy Hill. I was also sticker-shocked to rent an airy and recently-renovated loft-styled 1-BR apartment for only $550/month, which was well within my budget and less than half what I was paying for a trashier apartment in the "Candyland" of Northern Virginia. Now I pay $700/month for a dumpy 1-BR unit, and anything comparable to what I had back in 2010 is at least several hundred dollars more per month. Many units now go for over $1,000/month here. In just a few years I'm fearing I'll be "gentrified out" of a neighborhood I've grown to love, and it hurts to realize you can't live in your neighborhood anymore because you're not an executive, scholar, surgeon, attorney, etc.

When I first moved here in 2010 I had such grand dreams of buying a fixer-upper here and lovingly restoring it. Now even the fixer-uppers here command sales prices far above what I'd be willing to pay, and they fly off the market. I knew when I moved to Pittsburgh that it was a city that was, well, "rising", to quote my screenname, but I had no idea it was flying out of an abyss. I thought it was just improving moderately and modestly year after year. I look around the East End and see nothing but growth occurring, which is good, but with that growth also comes gentrification, which will eventually push me out. I suppose I should just step aside and let the city continue on its rapid path towards achieving its fullest potential, but it does hurt a bit to know that I'll have to buy my first home in a different neighborhood and hope I can grow to love it as much as this neighborhood. It's just taking me some time to adjust.

Sorry again for the drama. We all have choices in life. I could have been an executive or surgeon instead of a small business manager.

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I know this thread was started to mock me, and I suppose I should just come clean and apologize for being melodramatic. When I moved here in 2010 I immediately fell in love with the brick sidewalks, aging (yet stately) tenements, and friendly people of Polish Hill---not to mention the beauty of the church and the gorgeous views of the Allegheny Valley and Troy Hill. I was also sticker-shocked to rent an airy and recently-renovated loft-styled 1-BR apartment for only $550/month, which was well within my budget and less than half what I was paying for a trashier apartment in the "Candyland" of Northern Virginia. Now I pay $700/month for a dumpy 1-BR unit, and anything comparable to what I had back in 2010 is at least several hundred dollars more per month. Many units now go for over $1,000/month here. In just a few years I'm fearing I'll be "gentrified out" of a neighborhood I've grown to love, and it hurts to realize you can't live in your neighborhood anymore because you're not an executive, scholar, surgeon, attorney, etc.

When I first moved here in 2010 I had such grand dreams of buying a fixer-upper here and lovingly restoring it. Now even the fixer-uppers here command sales prices far above what I'd be willing to pay, and they fly off the market. I knew when I moved to Pittsburgh that it was a city that was, well, "rising", to quote my screenname, but I had no idea it was flying out of an abyss. I thought it was just improving moderately and modestly year after year. I look around the East End and see nothing but growth occurring, which is good, but with that growth also comes gentrification, which will eventually push me out. I suppose I should just step aside and let the city continue on its rapid path towards achieving its fullest potential, but it does hurt a bit to know that I'll have to buy my first home in a different neighborhood and hope I can grow to love it as much as this neighborhood. It's just taking me some time to adjust.

Sorry again for the drama. We all have choices in life. I could have been an executive or surgeon instead of a small business manager.

There's still a lot here you can afford. I think you have to get over the notion that the first home you buy will be your dream home. Not that you won't love it, but it may take fixing it up, building equity, a promotion at work or a better job before you can afford the closer-to-the-dream house. Get in the game as soon as you can. You know the city well and have good instincts about which neighborhoods have potential.

The first house I owned was a fixer-upper tiny ranch house in a decidedly un-trendy neighborhood. It had a serious mold problem and the neighborhood became a haven for crack dealers with automatic weapons for a little while. Luckily our very strong neighborhood association raised holy hell and got them out. The house was nowhere close to the home of my dreams, but it was a start. My home here in Crafton is pretty much my dream house, but I compromised on a few things. No house will be perfect. Get as close to perfection as you can afford.

[ferraris]

SCR, I think it's simply time to look outside of Polish Hill. Do you really want to continue paying ever increasing rents for a "dumpy" apartment just so you can be in Polish Hill, a neighborhood you fear may be too yuppie/hipster/trustafarian in a few years?

Polish Hill is not your childhood home, nor the home of your lifelong friends and family. While it's a serious bummer that you can't afford to buy there or to rent a nice apartment there right now, it's not the end of the world. You grew to love Polish Hill very quickly after moving there; I'm sure you could do the same again with a different neighborhood.

My first post college apartment was in Bloomfield, also in 2009/2010 like you. It was not even $500 a month and I would look up homes in Bloomfield on the county assessment website and see that they had sold in the 2000's and 90's for $50K. I really figured I could save for a few years and afford to buy there for that amount. But by the time I was buying a home it just wasn't a possibility. I lived in the War Streets for a while and loved it over there, and now I own my home in Brighton Heights and am growing quite attached to it up here, too.

You are such a civic minded guy with so much community pride that I have a hard time believing you can't find a neighborhood to call home in your price range. You just have to get over the hump and realize that you can't afford the trendy parts of the East End and that that's not that big of a deal.