Blighted home on Walnut Streeet in Shadyside (Pittsburgh, Northumberland: for sale, real estate) - Pennsylvania (PA) - City-Data Forum

TechieTransplant · 03-12-2010, 04:32 AM

Has anyone ever noticed the old creepy looking house next to the gym on Walnut Street in Shadyside? I've noticed it ever since I moved here, and it's kind of strange to me that it's left in that condition considering the image that is portrayed throughout the rest of the Walnut corridor.

gameguy56 · 03-12-2010, 05:12 AM

walnut street gym - Google Maps

Is this it?

hempfield mania · 03-12-2010, 07:05 AM

Looks like a good investment opportunity. Could probably get it for less than 5k. Raze it and build a new duplex. Should be able to get a couple grand a month out of that place for that location, especially for new construction.

robrobrob · 03-12-2010, 07:10 AM

The land alone is worth way more than $5,000. It would be worth even more if it was zoned commercial.

hnsq · 03-12-2010, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hempfield mania

Looks like a good investment opportunity. Could probably get it for less than 5k. Raze it and build a new duplex. Should be able to get a couple grand a month out of that place for that location, especially for new construction.

that land alone has to be worth at least 20-25k.

a plot of land that size just sold in lower lawrenceville for 7k, so imagine the markup for being on walnut st

groar · 03-12-2010, 07:24 AM

yeah, it definitely could be a good investment, but there's no way you could get it for that little. the building might be a mess, but the location is prime, and that's the most important thing.

best case scenario you could get it from the county for the assessed value, which i am going to look up right now!

groar · 03-12-2010, 07:27 AM

Allegheny County Assessment

it's assessed at $100k, which is kind of hilarious. the taxes are up to date though, so you couldn't get it from the county.

looks like the owner died and it now belongs to his wife and a trust in his name. and in the image on the county site, it was for sale! i wonder how much they wanted for it.

BrianTH · 03-12-2010, 07:51 AM

I was going to guess something along the apparent lines of what happened (a resident dies or moves away, someone else acquires the title, and now they are sitting on it waiting for a huge payoff). This is a common problem, and some cities have addressed it by assessing a vacancy tax of some sort in targeted areas, which basically penalizes people if they are just sitting on properties.

Hopes · 03-12-2010, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by groar

Allegheny County Assessment

it's assessed at $100k, which is kind of hilarious. the taxes are up to date though, so you couldn't get it from the county.

looks like the owner died and it now belongs to his wife and a trust in his name. and in the image on the county site, it was for sale! i wonder how much they wanted for it.

If you check the address for the owner, she lives on Northumberland Street.

Look on the real estate assessment website and you'll see that her and her husband owned the house on Northumberland since 1987.

They acquired the house in Shadyside in 1997. Clearly, they never lived there. They just acquired it and have left it vacant.

fleetiebelle · 03-12-2010, 08:03 AM

Quote:

This is a common problem, and some cities have addressed it by assessing a vacancy tax of some sort in targeted areas, which basically penalizes people if they are just sitting on properties.

Man, I wish Pittsburgh would implement something like this. The house next door has been vacant as long as I've lived there. The neighbors say the owner bought it to flip, but he hasn't been around in months ( no one shoveled the sidewalk or even checked on the house during Snowpocalypse.) Grass gets feet tall in the summer, the yard's full of woodland creatures. I regularly call 311 and the building department, but nothing ever happens.