To New Castle or not to New Castle, that is the question?!!

[Shenandoah]

Your commute into Pittsburgh will be quite lengthy. Have you checked Ellwood City, PA? Just a bit south of New Castle, closer to Pittsburgh, nice small town, nice cheap homes, too. Good proximity to Cranberry, 20 miles (where Google is based). Also, the taxes in Lawrence County are nice and cheap.

I don't know if you're looking for something right in town, or out in the country, but there's a nice small 2 bedroom, 1 bath just outside of Ellwood City, in a very good area for $21,900. I know, double the price of the others in New Castle.
Single Family Home - North Sewickley Twp, PA, 16117 - Realtor.com


I don't know what your price range is either, but you'll get some nice ones in good areas, closer to Pittsburgh in Ellwood City zip code: 16117.

Single Family Home - Ellwood City - LAW, PA, 16117 - Realtor.com

Blessings to you and the best of luck on your move!

Shenandoah

[Shenandoah]

Sorry I wasn't reading the entire thread - you need the commuter bus. The New Castle Transit bus comes thru Ellwood City.

When I worked in Pittsburgh, I considered taking the NCT bus into town, but it's hours just didn't work for me. That 6 pm ending totally mystified me, too. So, I drove into Cranberry, and took the PAT bus into Pittsburgh.

I read also, that you are used to the longer commute times - one other consideration is that your wife can 'car-pool' into Pittsburgh. In other words, ride with other people in someone's car, just contribute to the gas and parking. The hours maybe more convenient for her and you. There's a website somewhere for local car-poolers.

New Castle is a nice town, with a great history. Hopefully, it'll come back. I hope you find your home there.
My advice to you would be to rent first, and see if the area and transportation system work out for you, before buying.

Blessings and the best of luck to you,

Shenandoah

[valleygal]

Hello Irish8,

Lots of good advice. Here is my two cents worth. Ambridge, PA. It is located 15 miles north of downtown Pittsburgh (on the way to New Castle). By public transportation, about a 35 minute commute.

This is small town, similar to Ellwood and New Castle in that its roots are ethnic, (mostly Central European and Italian) mill town. It si considered a "front-porch, walkable community." It was recently name a Preserve America community. It is home to a beautiful historical site, Old Economy Village, 23 churches, and a ministry school.
There is a 19 block business district, but there is not a lot of retail. Some restaurtants, some bars, drug stores, doctors, etc. and a nice little park in the center of town. Like many of the communities in this corridor, its' glory days are over. However, that being said, there is a new development in town that will bring more retail, housing, etc. There has been a lot of property movemetn in teh busines district in teh last year or so. All of the schools are new; the newly built high school just opened this past January, with all of the new bells and whistles. The grade school was rebuilt and opened about three years ago.

The people are friendly, they are community oriented, and property is cheap compared to most of Pittsburgh. It is well worth considering.

Property is very reasonable here. You could find something as low as 35,000, but I would not necessarily recomment it. You can find a single family home - something nice in the 50-80,000 range. Becasue of the Seminary, it is asy to rent properties in teh areas close to the school. I can check on this further for you next week, if you like. Here is an opportunity to consider: a storefront property, on a "good block" in decent, not great shape. Storefront unit has a tenant paying $400 per month and pays his own utilities. Upstairs, two-bedroom apartment - could easily be left vacant, or you could easily rent it. Downpayments usually 10 - 20% and your tenants would be carrying your mortgage. There are several such opportunities available.

[irish8]

Hello, I'm sorry for not having been able to reply to posts for such a long time but we have been reconsidering buying a house in the States. There seem to be lotsa great towns and cities with pretty decent neighbourhoods and homes at a very affordable level but we think we may not be buying in the US after all. To buy now and simply visit once or twice a year would not make too much sense...perhaps when we graduate, that'd prob be a better time to purchase.

Thanks to everyone who offered their two cents, and all the info and help....much appreciated!

Who knows we may change our minds but for now we've decided not to buy.

Thanks again to everyone.....

[Katiana]

Thanks for the update. Good luck with everything!

[jadegirl416]

I grew up a short commute from Johnstown and can say that the area has gone down hill. Any house you find for under $30,000 is most likely going to either be in a bad area of town, or it is a shack that can need as much money if not more to fix it as what you have paid for it. Surrounding areas of Johnstown that are a few miles away are a better bet but you will be paying a higher price for them, possibly $50,000, but with fewer repairs needed and much higher quality in the community you would be living in.

As for New Castle, I just bought a house there myself for $11,000. I've looked at a lot of the houses under $25,000 in and surrounding New Castle and can say with certainty that most are going to need quite a bit of work due to the ages of the homes. But many of these homes are structurely sound and the work is cosmetic, but still a lot of it. Also many of these homes need updated wiring and plumbing. If you can do a lot of the work yourselves then the cost should be kept down some, but expect to be putting a lot of investment in time and money into any home priced so low. If you raise the price you are willing to pay for a home in the New Castle area to about $40,000 to $60,000 then you should be able to find a house that is move in ready with very few or no repairs needed.
Also in the New Castle area the local government is trying to keep the town from becoming run down by requiring an inspection and demanding that the problems found with the house be corrected before moving in, I found this out when I purchased my home.
As with most other areas, there are areas of New Castle that are not desirable, but there are many other areas that are very quaint and friendly. It would be difficult to know where to buy unless you actually visited the area, especially if you are looking for a much lower price on your house.
I hope this was helpfull.

[tryshesq]

Is anyone familiar with an extremely large home [12 bedroom] on East Moody St. [221 I believe] or the East Moody street area? Thanks.