House for 9k? Johnstown, ok what's the deal? (Pittsburgh, Bethlehem: rent, crime)

[goozer]

Originally Posted by Caligirlrefugee

This particular property is in East Conemaugh Valley and based on all the maps that I have looked at the house **seems** to be in a decent neighborhood.

It just boggles my mind that I could actually pay cash for a house, even if I would just use it for a vacation place. My family is originally from Johnstown (circa 1900's to late 1960's) and I am sure I would be able to get a lot of use out of it letting extended family members use it for a "trip back home".

I need to buddy up with someone who can actually drive by and see some of these places!

In this day and age, I cannot imagine buying a house -- no matter how cheap -- without seeing it first. If you are serious about buying real estate back east, you would be well-served to buy a $300 plane ticket to fly out and look at some of these places. In some instances, you can indeed get a cheap fixer-uper with good bones. But in other instances, you would be throwing all of your money down the toilet. Plus, if eventual re-sale is your plan, you should understand that some of these towns are never going to see jobs come back and you may never be able to sell the house if and when the time comes for you to unload it (hence the reason the current sellers have listed that one place at $9,000).

[Honest Bob]

I live in a old coal patch town and the town was built by one contractor that won a contest - "who could build a house the fastest".
His company built 150 houses in one summer. That included all the outhouses and all the coal sheds.

The houses were built on stilts - because the town was never designed to last more then the length of the coal mine. Most coal mines had a life expectancy of about 20 years. Because the coal mine was a major producer of metallurgical grade coal - it lasted approximately 50 years.
Most coal mine towns, once the coal ran out - was torn down or burned to the ground, everything would have been leveled, and in 40 years, you wouldn't even know that there was a town there anymore. Elenora PA is one good example. Helevatia is another...

In the case of my town, a coal miner / scrap iron magnet family by the name of Kolvolchick bought the town and rented it out to the people who lived there for another 30 years. After 30 years of no improvements, the residents got fed up with paying rent on a place that had no real value anymore, and after already paying several times more in rent then what the house was worth, they all got together and formed a corporation and bought the town and sold the houses to the residents for $3000.00 a house. Some houses that were in bad shape - were sold for about 1/3 of that amount.
Kovalchick Corporation
Kovalchick Salvage CO (Kovalchick Brothers) - Sykesville, Pennsylvania (PA) | Company Profile
Adrian Mines & Coke Works, Adrian (Delancey P.O.), Young Twp., Jefferson Co., PA, USA
http://patheoldminer.rootsweb.ancest...feleanora.html

At that time, there were people who lived in the town - when the coal mines were working, who found out about these great deals and bought up the delinquent houses at bargain basement prices - sight unseen.
One individual even went so far as to believe that someone would rent one of these houses and fix it up with their own money - and then the landlord would get his / her house rehabilitated for free.
One person actually bought up 9 houses and in the end, lost 8 of them to the tax sale when they found out that it would cost more to fix it up then to build a new house.

There was a house down the road from my house that was in ok shape, that was sold several times and each time one person left, the next person did more damage then good to the house until it got to the point of where it was uninhabitable. A person from California - some kind of investment banker found the house on Craigslist for about $5000.00 and bought it sight unseen. When they sent a contractor to look over the house - after they had bought it, to see what it would need to fix it up a little and flip it.
The contractor told them that the house did not even have windows or doors anymore. The damage exceeded the value.
The last I heard, another gypsie family - who was thrown out of Rossiter PA, bought the house and has done some repairs and is now living in the house.

For those of you who is not familiar with Rossiter PA. Rossiter PA - must have something wrong with the water, because more mentally retarded people comes out of Rossiter PA then most any other town in Pennsylvania. There is more Personal Care Homes per a capita in Rossiter then most anywhere else in Pennsylvania. When they closed down the state hospital system. The people who lived at Torrence State Hospital were all moved to Rossiter. The state of PA even built a Mental Health Center on the main street, because it was easier to send 4 employees from Indiana PA to Rossiter, then to haul 400 mental health patients a week to Indiana PA for assessments and treatment.

To get thrown out of Rossiter - you have to be pretty bad!

[tabcoyne75]

oh and out in ca they mostly have no basements. here is a must have and an exit out of them.

sold my father in laws house for 989,000 four bed, 1 1/5 bath, two car garage, nice locatin with a club house. a dated home 70's

my house in pa 55k biger home but no garage no garage. it was remodeled too. it was a victoran home 1900's

[js1mom]

I live in Johnstown right now and they exist ($9,000 homes.) I personally wouldn't live in one, but then--- I also lived in San Diego, CA before and have been to LA... the very worst neighborhood in Johnstown is the best "ghetto" in LA. If you can live there--- you will think this place is paradise. A very BORING paradise---but paradise! I am from the DC area and at first coming here was a nice change, but after nearly 4 years... the perpetual "entitlement" mentality, run down or abandoned homes, and corrupt "good old boys" city government get to ya... and forgot getting a job here! If there are any decent jobs---they go to the locals (it's who you know.) But if you want a decent fixer upper that you can definitely live in now--- go for at least a $30,000 place. I bought a 4000 SF Victorian that was made into three 1285 SF 2 bedroom apartments for $94,000 in one of the best neighborhoods in the area with excellent schools (and high taxes to match it.) I live in one, rent out the others and have no mortgage. Can't do THAT in LA! Good luck.

[JosephAulde]

Originally Posted by Caligirlrefugee

So as I wander the internet with the hopes and dreams of someday moving from California to PA, I see houses listed in Johnstown for 9k.

Coming from Southern California I can barely buy a shoebox for 9k so I am wondering what the story is on these old homes.

First of all I can understand the obvious, depressed job market, older home, not updated features etc. etc. but are these types of homes in true drug and crime infested ghettos (compared to LA... keep that in mind, I already live in an area high in crime).

My husband insists that they are unlivable homes if they are going for that low of a price. I say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and they are "potential properties". Good bones but need lots of love.

So what gives? Am I a pollyanna about these homes or is he a California born and bred cynic?

Thanks for the info!

Hello, I happened across this thread today and don't know if anyone is going to reply or not but it was in line with my stuff. I also discovered that there are a bunch of cheap homes in Johnstown, PA and nearly bought one for $8,000.00. I had done some paperwork but cancelled my purchase because I needed more research first. I am still researching and have a second address to check out soon to see if it fares better than the 1st try. I want to buy a cheap house and fix it up for reselling later. I have 6 plus years of home construction experience and have owned a house and 2 mobile homes so far. This would be my first house bought with cash; other than the mobile homes; they were each only a few grand used. I know I can do the work myself and would love to see about getting more folks involved in rehabilitating whole blocks and creating our own new neighborhoods within this distressed and forgotten realm.
Feel free to email me if you have any thoughts on the topic.
PS, I lived in Sacramento, CA for about a year and also lived in Anderson, CA for another 13 plus years...California was my second home for a total of 17 years. Now living in Virginia.

[medievalbooks]

Get an idea of the area (note I know nothing of that town), what houses are selling for generally there. If the work situation there sucks and/or you have a high crime rate. You have to do some online work, find out the history of the area. Be sad to get a house all nice with no one able to buy it because of financial situations. It would also help if you spent some time in the area to see if the area is truly a diamond in the rough.

[Icy Tea]

I like to look at houses in distressed coal mining towns and i guess Johnstown or Altoona would fall into that category. What I'd see would be pretty small row homes that haven't seen a remodel since the 1970s. Probably Popop or Nana died or went into a nursing home. Think pink bathrooms, very old shag carpet, wood paneling in the living room and the basement is dirt floor. Drop ceiling and old plumbing, old electrical, old heating and ancient kitchen appliances. Maybe livable, but also ready for a complete gutting. Or maybe they got as far as gutting it but then realized they didn't have the money or the skills to fix it up. You'd never see a return on your investment on the rent you'd get or the home value wouldn't go up much. Plus, where would you work or would you be willing to commute an hour each way each day?
Prices could be for about 10 or 15K or even 5K for a place in terrible shape. Tempting?

[villageidiot1]

Originally Posted by Icy Tea

I like to look at houses in distressed coal mining towns and i guess Johnstown or Altoona would fall into that category. What I'd see would be pretty small row homes that haven't seen a remodel since the 1970s. Probably Popop or Nana died or went into a nursing home. Think pink bathrooms, very old shag carpet, wood paneling in the living room and the basement is dirt floor. Drop ceiling and old plumbing, old electrical, old heating and ancient kitchen appliances. Maybe livable, but also ready for a complete gutting. Or maybe they got as far as gutting it but then realized they didn't have the money or the skills to fix it up. You'd never see a return on your investment on the rent you'd get or the home value wouldn't go up much. Plus, where would you work or would you be willing to commute an hour each way each day?
Prices could be for about 10 or 15K or even 5K for a place in terrible shape. Tempting?

There is not much that is within an hour commute of Johnstown. The biggest towns under an hour commute would be Altoona, Somerset, and Indiana. You won't many jobs in those places.

[LibraGirl123]

Just remember: if something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by LibraGirl123

Just remember: if something seems too good to be true, it usually is.

I've actually found the opposite to be true. If something sounds too good to be true, it might be true, but some misguided person on the internet will discourage you. It's not hard to find a job that can support living in and fixing up a $15k house, even in Johnstown.