Living in Mt. Lebanon vs. Dormont (Pittsburgh, Penn Hills: appointed, for rent, house)

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by RoughCollie

I looked at places in Coolidge Corner, Brookline, today and found the perfect apartment for us: only $4,600/month rent! It is the size of our house: 2800 s.f. -- huge for a place there, medium for a house where I live.

RC

Again, that is 55k per year, plus utilities. DON'T DO IT!!!

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by COPANUT

Again, that is 55k per year, plus utilities. DON'T DO IT!!!

Again! I couldn't agree with you more!

We really need to protect people coming here from high cost of living areas.

55k per year for a rental, especially in that area, is just crazy. And it's just an apartment!

You get a mortgage on a HUGE new house for less per month in Pittsburgh.

[LAMBSN]

Originally Posted by RoughCollie

I looked at places in Coolidge Corner, Brookline, today and found the perfect apartment for us: only $4,600/month rent! It is the size of our house: 2800 s.f. -- huge for a place there, medium for a house where I live. RC

I think she might be referring to Coolidge Corner, Brookline MA - not Brookline, PA. Because nothing in Pittsburgh would cost your $4,600 to rent.

[raynist]

Originally Posted by RoughCollie

I looked at places in Coolidge Corner, Brookline, today and found the perfect apartment for us: only $4,600/month rent! It is the size of our house: 2800 s.f. -- huge for a place there, medium for a house where I live.

RC

There isn't a single house in Brookline that is worth that much in rent. In fact, I would say there isn't more than a handful (if any) houses in Brookline that would cost that much to buy, or even half that much to buy per month.

I grew up there and love the place, but that is just ridiculous.

Edit: The above poster has to be correct. There is no place by that name that I know if in Brookline (Pgh).

Imagine the house you could have in the Pittsburgh area for that kind of money!!!

[adhzedan]

Because you have kids, and seem to be education-oriented, I would recommend Mt. Lebanon over Dormont.

Someone earlier commented that expecting an above-"average" school for your kids is "riding them hard," and that intelligent and hard-working students can succeed at an "average" school. This is true to a degree, but I also think that academic success can be bolstered by better amenities. There's nothing wrong with wanting something better for your kids, especially if they show interest in doing well in school, and in attending college. Plus, you can always move to Dormont, or anywhere else, after they graduate; if all of your kids are in high school now, you have a maximum of four years in Lebo. Since you're renting, you won't have to deal with selling a house.

As far as not having "little money left for anything else": there's a huge difference between having no money for anything but rent and utilities, and having no money for a 2-week vacation to Europe. When you said you would have little money for "unnecessary" things, I assumed you meant "luxuries," so please correct me if I'm wrong.

If you can live comfortably, albeit not lavishly, in Mt. Lebanon, I say it's totally worth it to pay $9,000 a year to send four kids to a good school. It's way cheaper than paying four private prep-school tuitions. But I do agree with people who suggested that you expand your search.

Ah, and as far as clarifying what the "T" is, you didn't have to There's a track route that runs through Dormont and Mt. Lebanon.

[RoughCollie]

Originally Posted by COPANUT

Don't sign that lease, that is WAY too high. Seriously.

I won't. We are moving to Pittsburgh, not Brookline. I wouldn't mind being rich enough to sign that lease, though.

[RoughCollie]

Originally Posted by Hopes

How are you looking for your rental housing? Are you using a real estate agent? Is it the same real estate agent that is going to show you commercial space?

We have two houses to look at (same owner) from Craigslist, and other than that, we are going to read the classifieds and drive around looking at everything.

We may contact a rental agent, but only if they don't charge us an additional months' rent for their services.

[RoughCollie]

Originally Posted by COPANUT

Again, that is 55k per year, plus utilities. DON'T DO IT!!!

Oh, no -- this is Brookline, Mass. I just realized why people were cautioning me against this -- Pittsburgh has a Brookline, too!

Sorry for the confusion.

[RoughCollie]

Originally Posted by adhzedan

If you can live comfortably, albeit not lavishly, in Mt. Lebanon, I say it's totally worth it to pay $9,000 a year to send four kids to a good school. It's way cheaper than paying four private prep-school tuitions. But I do agree with people who suggested that you expand your search.

Ah, and as far as clarifying what the "T" is, you didn't have to There's a track route that runs through Dormont and Mt. Lebanon.

Yes, we will be comfortable. To me, lavish would include eating out a lot, buying lots of unneeded books and clothes, taking expensive vacations, and so forth. We don't live like that now, so our lifestyle won't change in that regard.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by RoughCollie

We have two houses to look at (same owner) from Craigslist, and other than that, we are going to read the classifieds and drive around looking at everything.

We may contact a rental agent, but only if they don't charge us an additional months' rent for their services.

You won't be charged for their services. I promise.