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View Poll Results: What would be considered "expensive" rent (2bd, 1ba)?
$500+ 1 2.00%
$750+ 5 10.00%
$1000+ 16 32.00%
$1250+ 28 56.00%
Voters: 50. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 03-27-2017, 08:06 AM
 
Location: Texas
4,842 posts, read 3,607,303 times
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Here in Fort Worth, TX a 2/2 apartment would rent for $1500+ easily. New apartments would be even higher if they have granite, stainless steel appliances, laminate flooring. I have no idea who is renting these apartments - even young people starting their careers must struggle. Most of their wages must go for rent...

Husband and I rented a 2/1 for $1200 year before last, before we bought our house, 1800 sq ft, mortgage is 965.

I cannot live anywhere cheaper.
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Old 04-06-2017, 02:50 AM
 
Location: Crafton via San Francisco
3,463 posts, read 4,622,067 times
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In Pittsburgh? I guess anything over $1500. I was paying $2300 for a 2bdr 1ba townhouse in SF that included a covered parking space. It was in decent shape but had no washer and dryer and the kitchen had probably been updated sometime in the early 80s. I just checked online and those places are going for around $3500 now without a parking space. Because of that, everything in Pittsburgh seems cheap to me.
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Old 04-06-2017, 10:54 AM
 
8,090 posts, read 6,898,717 times
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Originally Posted by Goodjules View Post
In Pittsburgh? I guess anything over $1500. I was paying $2300 for a 2bdr 1ba townhouse in SF that included a covered parking space. It was in decent shape but had no washer and dryer and the kitchen had probably been updated sometime in the early 80s. I just checked online and those places are going for around $3500 now without a parking space. Because of that, everything in Pittsburgh seems cheap to me.
I agree; $1500 is where we start to enter "expensive" territory. $2000 is outrageous for Pittsburgh.
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Old 04-06-2017, 11:42 AM
 
3,291 posts, read 2,740,705 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gladhands View Post
I agree; $1500 is where we start to enter "expensive" territory. $2000 is outrageous for Pittsburgh.
Actually its not. Not if you're looking for a 2 bdrm new apartment in a trendy area. Its pretty common.
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Old 04-06-2017, 11:49 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh (via Chicago, via Pittsburgh)
3,887 posts, read 5,491,469 times
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i wouldn't consider any of these expensive for a 2 bed if in a desirable neighborhood
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Old 04-06-2017, 01:10 PM
 
Location: O'Hara Twp.
4,359 posts, read 7,482,638 times
Reputation: 1611
Quote:
Originally Posted by SteelCityRising View Post
We pay $725/month plus water/sewer, gas, and electric for our rundown 1-BR in a trendy neighborhood. We don't have off-street parking, a dishwasher, laundry, or A/C. Our rent is likely increasing soon. I checked CraigsList for any pet-friendly 1-BR units in this city that are <$750/month (excluding utilities) and have found slim pickings---similarly dumpy 1-BR units, mostly from one management company.

I would personally consider $1,250/month+ to be expensive for a 2-BR apartment in this city (excluding utilities) and $1,000/month+ to be expensive for a 1-BR apartment in this city (excluding utilities). I make <$30,000/year, which is far less than ~75% of the higher-earners on here make, so my own personal observations are divergent from the norm.

I read an article somewhere recently that said rents were actually on the decline now in Pittsburgh due to a glut of new construction luxury rentals. Can someone tell my landlord this?


I will say, though, as an aside, that "City-Data Pittsburgh" hasn't at all been my experience with "Real Pittsburgh".

Most of my fellow 20-something friends are making $25,000/year-$40,000/year. All have at least a Bachelor's Degree. Some have Master's Degrees. Coupled with hefty student loan burdens and the rising rents here none of us are living very comfortably at all. I don't foresee myself being financially secure until age 35. Judging by this forum Pittsburgh's job market is red hot, and everyone's rolling in the deep. The only people I know who are 25-34 or so who are making bank largely ALSO have current or past help financially from wealthy parents to be in their current life position. Not everyone has the aptitude to be an attorney, physician, autonomous vehicle engineer, controller, software developer, coder, etc. Many "old school" Pittsburgh employers, including my own, continue to under compensate their staff because the job market here still isn't that great, and they know they can exploit their talent as a result.

Every class of Pittsburgher seems to have advocates expect for the working-class. It's a shame, too, considering the working-class helped to make Pittsburgh a legacy city.
I think your expectations aren't realistic. Your peers aren't buying homes. I realize you want to own your own home but most people can't afford to buy a house when they are starting their career. The people that I know that were able to buy a house before getting married either have a great first job (and even then it takes a few years to save) or got some sort of family help.

My impression is that you are still starting your career even though you have been out of college for a some time. Moving cities and starting over does set you back. For you it was worth it but you have to admit that your career was set back, right?

And don't compare yourself to a doctor or lawyer. Those two fields have unreal starting salaries.
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Old 04-06-2017, 02:45 PM
 
1,577 posts, read 1,271,900 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robrobrob View Post
I think your expectations aren't realistic. Your peers aren't buying homes. I realize you want to own your own home but most people can't afford to buy a house when they are starting their career. The people that I know that were able to buy a house before getting married either have a great first job (and even then it takes a few years to save) or got some sort of family help.

My impression is that you are still starting your career even though you have been out of college for a some time. Moving cities and starting over does set you back. For you it was worth it but you have to admit that your career was set back, right?

And don't compare yourself to a doctor or lawyer. Those two fields have unreal starting salaries.
Not so much for a lawyer...salary is bimodal at like 150k and 50k. the new lawyer seems to be software engineers.
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Old 04-07-2017, 11:28 AM
 
1,653 posts, read 1,576,107 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul2421 View Post
Not so much for a lawyer...salary is bimodal at like 150k and 50k. the new lawyer seems to be software engineers.
Starting salary for which is also bimodal. Sub 40k salary in the first year is not unheard of.
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Old 04-08-2017, 05:57 AM
 
8,090 posts, read 6,898,717 times
Reputation: 9225
Quote:
Originally Posted by _Buster View Post
Actually its not. Not if you're looking for a 2 bdrm new apartment in a trendy area. Its pretty common.
Oh, I'm aware, and it's still outrageous. With the exception of NY and SF, 2k gets you a nice place anywhere in the country. Pittsburgh drops way down in the desirability rankings in that price tier.
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Old 04-08-2017, 10:48 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh
1,491 posts, read 1,446,783 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gladhands View Post
Oh, I'm aware, and it's still outrageous. With the exception of NY and SF, 2k gets you a nice place anywhere in the country. Pittsburgh drops way down in the desirability rankings in that price tier.
there are tons of other cities besides NY and SF with way higher rent than we have. See how far your 2k goes in Seattle, LA, san diego, denver, dallas, boston, philly, DC, Chicago, Portland.

Portland gets a lot of comparisons to pittsburgh. Here is what newer construction units, in trendy areas are renting for there. https://www.zillow.com/homes/make_me...ct/15_zm/1_fr/
https://www.zillow.com/homes/make_me...ct/15_zm/1_fr/

https://www.zillow.com/homes/make_me...ct/15_zm/1_fr/

We are still very cheap by national standards.
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