Looking for best school districts with most affordable homes... (Indiana: neighborhoods, live)

[eschaton]

These type of communities are not my area of expertise, but in suburban communities most of the variance in housing cost comes down to the age of the house, the size of the house, and the perceived quality of the school district. You're not going to "beat the market" here to some great deal unless you find a house which has some weird flaw which hurts its market value, like being next to a railroad track. If you want to live in a better school district at that price, you make the sacrifice of living in a smaller, more dated home. If you care about new construction and big, you buy a cheap house in the exurbs where the schools have only a so-so reputation.

I mean, I dunno how much you paid for your existing home, or what its current market value is, but it seems like from your post and subsequent replies you believe you can find somewhere "better" in all respects for roughly the same amount of money.

[gg]

Originally Posted by eschaton

These type of communities are not my area of expertise, but in suburban communities most of the variance in housing cost comes down to the age of the house, the size of the house, and the perceived quality of the school district. You're not going to "beat the market" here to some great deal unless you find a house which has some weird flaw which hurts its market value, like being next to a railroad track. If you want to live in a better school district at that price, you make the sacrifice of living in a smaller, more dated home. If you care about new construction and big, you buy a cheap house in the exurbs where the schools have only a so-so reputation.

I mean, I dunno how much you paid for your existing home, or what its current market value is, but it seems like from your post and subsequent replies you believe you can find somewhere "better" in all respects for roughly the same amount of money.

I agree, it is a seller's market in our region right now, so finding something newer is tough unless you really look far out. There is nothing wrong with older and updated. I personally would prefer that considering newer homes under $300K wouldn't be very good quality. You could find a townhome maybe.

[jdbst56]

As others have said, if you're looking for brand new, you'll most likely have to expand your school district requirement to the top 15 instead of top 5.

If you're into condo/townhome style, here's an example in Bethel Park https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...1-22579#photo7

If you're ok with tract/production style homes, there is a lot of activity in Jefferson Hills with homes starting under 300k but you'll have to factor in the upgrade costs and the overall quality that you're getting.

Good luck in your search!

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by eschaton

These type of communities are not my area of expertise, but in suburban communities most of the variance in housing cost comes down to the age of the house, the size of the house, and the perceived quality of the school district. You're not going to "beat the market" here to some great deal unless you find a house which has some weird flaw which hurts its market value, like being next to a railroad track. If you want to live in a better school district at that price, you make the sacrifice of living in a smaller, more dated home. If you care about new construction and big, you buy a cheap house in the exurbs where the schools have only a so-so reputation.

I mean, I dunno how much you paid for your existing home, or what its current market value is, but it seems like from your post and subsequent replies you believe you can find somewhere "better" in all respects for roughly the same amount of money.

The one thing that needs to be added is that within a school district and even withing a municipality within a school district there can be a huge price difference.

[mdcmm-78]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

I am not saying that this area is necessarily for you but it is my school district. Depending on location there can be a fair amount of diversity although not necessarily African Americans.

We are actually a professional/educated Latino family and have lived in Allison Park for 10+ years (first in Oakland/Shadyside for 10 years). I'm not looking for a Latino community per se. My previous comment on having more diversity - as in international (global) residents - in the suburbs is just something more common in bigger cities. It's ok if Pgh is not like that. Most people are as nice as can be here.

Originally Posted by robrobrob

My guess is this is what you want. https://www.howardhanna.com/Property...stpenn/1311042 However the location is not the best in my opinion.

Just curious why you don't think Indiana is not the best location since it is part of the Fox Chapel School District? Are you talking about the whole township or the specific location of this house?

Originally Posted by robrobrob

The location of this house is better but the house is much older.
https://www.howardhanna.com/Property...stpenn/1297052

I do love the neighborhoods of O'Hara and Aspinwall, and the houses are older like you mentioned.

[mdcmm-78]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I mean, I dunno how much you paid for your existing home, or what its current market value is, but it seems like from your post and subsequent replies you believe you can find somewhere "better" in all respects for roughly the same amount of money.

My house was moderately priced for Allison Park when we bought it 10+ years ago and with a 15 yr loan for around 7 yrs we built nice equity. That was my starter home and my goal was to buy something better (more spacious, updated or newer) the second time around. Finding that within my budget in Allison Park and surrounding areas is not impossible but hard.

My school district (Shaler) is not the best especially for Middle School/High School. So my thought was there might be more affordable options or newer construction in better school districts even if it's farther out from Pittsburgh than AP.

Is it feasible? That's why I started the thread, to get input from others who may have more info than I do.

[Copanut]

Look around in Hampton, good sized student population. You may not find your dream house, but still a good area.

[okaydorothy]

Originally Posted by mdcmm-78

You are right on the houses, I just looked!!! Schools look good too! :-)

Any cons ?

The one con I would make is that it has been difficult for us to make friends. Now,we moved here in our late 40's, our kids were in middle school and so there wasn't a lot of parents that I got to know. Maybe it would have been different if the kids had gone to school from K.
My kids did very well and our youngest is about to graduate high school. They really had a great high school experience and love 96% of the teachers. The high school principal is absolutely fantastic. Maybe if we live din a development, it may have been different ; who knows.

But its certainly worth to look here.

[mdcmm-78]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

The one con I would make is that it has been difficult for us to make friends. Now,we moved here in our late 40's, our kids were in middle school and so there wasn't a lot of parents that I got to know. Maybe it would have been different if the kids had gone to school from K.
My kids did very well and our youngest is about to graduate high school. They really had a great high school experience and love 96% of the teachers. The high school principal is absolutely fantastic. Maybe if we live din a development, it may have been different ; who knows.

But its certainly worth to look here.

Sounds great. I had no idea!

[gg]

Originally Posted by mdcmm-78

We are actually a professional/educated Latino family and have lived in Allison Park for 10+ years (first in Oakland/Shadyside for 10 years). I'm not looking for a Latino community per se. My previous comment on having more diversity - as in international (global) residents - in the suburbs is just something more common in bigger cities. It's ok if Pgh is not like that. Most people are as nice as can be here.
Just curious why you don't think Indiana is not the best location since it is part of the Fox Chapel School District? Are you talking about the whole township or the specific location of this house?
I do love the neighborhoods of O'Hara and Aspinwall, and the houses are older like you mentioned.

If you want International, I would highly recommend Fox Chapel. It is very diverse, but the census just throws people in "white" even though a lot of languages are spoken. I like the suggestion in Indiana Twp., as it would put you youngest child in Hartwood, which is good and so-on. I would focus on FC if you can.