Help Me Find a Starter Home! (Pittsburgh, California: 2014, homes, buying)

[Knepper3]

Originally Posted by Copanut

I just looked at the listing, nice house! Looks like they did a lot of work to it, definitely move in condition. I'm sure you're aware that the School District will challenge the 21K current assessment. Hope you figured that into your monthly budget. Chances are it will be reassessed to 47K or so. Damn taxes!

Maybe but the current assessment does not have a homestead which I think it was mentioned being a rental. They can apply for the homestead to bring that back down and the taxes are pretty low.

[Tallysmom]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Heh. In an odd stroke of luck we just received a phone call from our realtor. The house on Cake Way is ours!

YOU STOLE MY HOUSE! Congratulations!

I just checked it out. Cute inside, but boy. Definitely not my color palette. And I like bright and bold colors.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

Lincoln Place is modestly priced. There are buses but it is frankly pretty far removed from downtown.


https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5...11352256_zpid/

Lincoln Place is pleasant, but it is not urban at all. I think he would get bored there.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

We're also still waiting on the Cake Way house. Never thought you could make an offer on a Saturday and still not have any idea what's going on by Wednesday. I guess sellers can take as long as they'd like to make a decision on offers. We're not "mad" by any means. When you have anxiety issues, though, it doesn't help. I wish she would just reject our offer so we could feel "free" to look at other homes.

When I bought my Kittanning house, it took them a full month to respond to my offer. You can put something in your offer that it becomes void after a certain date.

[PreservationPioneer]

Congrats on the house! It has a lot of potential, especially in restoring the facade to a historic appearance, if you wish.

[DreamerD]

Originally Posted by jea6321

you really need to understand that your dollar today is worth more than a dollar 8 years from now. If you paid 60k, and put 20k into it, 8 years from now just standard home inflation takes the price to around 100k(using 3% yearly housing inflation). You are not being greedy expecting an asset to appreciate at the same rate as other similar assets.

I've read some of the posts on this thread. You offer great advice!

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Thanks so much!


I suppose you're right. I'm just realizing how hard it's been to afford to buy OUR first home, and I wouldn't want to resell at a price in 8 years that would make it even harder for someone else in our same circumstances in the future to have difficulty affording their own first home. There's no way we would buy the Route 51 home for $60,000, put $20,000 worth of work into it, and then sell it in 2028 for $100,000, though. It would probably sell for like $70,000---tops---to an investor at that point (a loss).

By your posts you seem like a really nice person. I understand that you want to be considerate of others, but it's okay to buy something in hopes it will appreciate nicely later on so that you can get good equity. You never know what may happen in life. Having equity is something you can fall back on in an emergency or should you need it to buy a bigger home.



Congratulations! I'm happy for you.

[bluecarebear]

Yikes. There are safer neighborhoods in the city. Avoid Woods Run.

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by bluecarebear

Yikes. There are safer neighborhoods in the city. Avoid Woods Run.

Living up to your name I see.

[WhiteOak2013]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Heh. In an odd stroke of luck we just received a phone call from our realtor. The house on Cake Way is ours!

Congratulations & welcome to the world of Home ownership! I’m so very happy for your good fortune.

You’ve received a tremendous amount of good advice. I used A1 Sewer for my camera inspection (before closing) and was very happy with them. Sometimes they run a special on Angie’s list for $99. You can check out their reviews here:

https://www.angieslist.com/companyli...ews-112472.htm

I checked the house out online and I really like the wood ceiling beams. I’m sure you have ideas of your own. It will be a ‘labor of love’ as mine has been. Just don’t take on too much at once. I’ve learned to do a lot of things on my own with the help of some neighbors, online videos, and by talking with friends and the people at Home Depot, Loews, & Busy Beaver. I stopped by a local ‘mom & pop’ hardware store and the owner explained how to cut and replace the pipe under my kitchen sink. After purchasing some items from him, I still had questions when I got home, and he stayed on the phone with me as I completed the job. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

As someone has already mentioned, Construction Junction is a great place to visit. You never know what you may find at a great price... sometimes they will come down on the price depending on the item, etc...you can always ask; the worse that can happen is that they say no and asking is free.

https://www.cjreuse.org/

It will be interesting to read about how things progress for you. Please keep us posted.

It’s an amazing feeling the first time you walk into your house after closing and realize it’s yours... all yours!

[prnlvsxy]

Originally Posted by jea6321

you really need to understand that your dollar today is worth more than a dollar 8 years from now. If you paid 60k, and put 20k into it, 8 years from now just standard home inflation takes the price to around 100k(using 3% yearly housing inflation). You are not being greedy expecting an asset to appreciate at the same rate as other similar assets.

That's not a guarantee, especially for a home at this price point. You're more likely to get a house in an area that is not appreciating.