Moving to Pittsburgh area (Erie, Lancaster: sale, real estate, new house)

[gameguy56]

You can also get new homes right across the bridge from the waterfront entertainment complex (Macy's, Best Buy, Movie Theater, bars, restaurants, etc.) here:

Summerset at Frick Park

[greg42]

Fox Chapel area is good, more centrally located than most. I'm not familiar with how much new construction is going on at the time, but there could be recent construction for sale as well. Be a little cautious at the top end of your budget because you have to allow for property tax. BTW Indiana Township, more rural, is also in the Fox Chapel school district. Harder to get to is not such a problem when you work out of the house. (Aspinwall and Sharpsburg also feed into the schools, but I don't think you'll find any recent construction that actually sits in one of those boroughs.)

Other possible areas would include Hampton (Hampton schools, dunno how much new construction left), Marshall/Franklin Park/McCandless/Bradford Woods (North Allegheny schools, could be running out of new construction except for super high-end in Marshall) Pine/Richland (Pine-Richland schools). These are all in the north area. Also Cranberry, Butler County (Seneca Valley schools, TONS of new construction still happening) could be considered. The property taxes are notably lower there. The place is much more sprawling though.

Now if you really, literally don't need to leave the house to work ever and don't need to drive into the city at commute times, then you could pick a place that we'd normally suggest avoiding because of the horrid commute. New construction is still happening and schools are still near the top of the area list in some places like Murrysville, Westmoreland County (Franklin Regional schools, covers a couple other municipalities out there too) out to the east or Peters Township, Washington County (Peters schools) down to the south. Again like Cranberry the property tax is somewhat less and these places are newer and more sprawling.

But you're closer to all the best shopping if you stick with the north areas. Note the Whole Foods and Trader Joe's RR mentioned above are in the city, pretty convenient to Fox Chapel area and maybe not so much for the other north areas, but there is also a second area Whole Foods due to open in the fall in Wexford (a confusing place name used in addresses that covers parts of Pine, McCandless and Franklin Park).

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by aeland

I love Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.

Whole Foods is putting up a new store in Wexford, which is somewhere up north/suburban.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by RestonRunner86

$400,000 would get you a nice newer home in O'Hara Township in the well-regarded Fox Chapel School District. You'd be near to the Waterworks Mall, Fox Chapel Plaza, and you'd be perhaps a 15-minute drive or so from the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills. You'd also not be far from the shopping opportunities in the North Hills. East Liberty in the city proper of Pittsburgh would also be just across the Highland Park Bridge from you, and here you'll find Target (opening July 2011), Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Edible Arrangements, Home Depot, Anthropologie, Staples, Petland, Borders, and more. I deliver for a living, and O'Hara Township does a stellar job with their roads during snow storms, so I'd assume their other services are great as well.

No it won't. I live in O'Hara and here is my experience. My house is 50 years old. Clearly, not a newer house. My friend bought a house in O'Hara last year and paid a litle over 400,000. House is 40 years old. Kitchen is 20 years old. Nice bones but needs some work. New houses in O'Hara, if you can find one, are selling for 5550,000 for starters. Another plan the new houses start at about 700,000. Newer houses, say 10-15 years old, in a less desirable part of O'Hara are priced in the high four hundreds. For the most part O'Hara has older homes. If you want something new/newer and priced under 400,000. My thought would be Cranberry/Seven Fields. I don't know Pine Township very well but I thought new construction there would be closer to 500,000 at the very least. Am I right?

[greg42]

Cranberry, Seven Fields and Adams probably have the highest concentration of lower-priced new construction at the moment. There were a couple in Marshall Township but they're filled now. Not sure if there might be something in the back side of Franklin Park.

Pine, there is some high end new construction yes, not sure what if anything lower than that (apart from townhomes). Nothing that I pass on regular basis. I would think Richland, though, would have some. Should be cheaper because a little harder to get to the city, but still people might try it to get into Pine-Richland schools.

I'm not directly familiar with pricing in places like Peters or Murrysville, just assuming they'll have some places that are similar to Cranberry area's pricing.

There probably won't be too many few-year-old houses (say, less than 10 years old) for sale around the area at all. Often times people buying the new construction are those who have been in the area a while and are planning to stay there. But that doesn't mean there will be none.

I'm sure there are other places to look for new(er) houses too. We didn't mention Robinson and Moon, etc. I don't really know. Some places there might work. And then there are some others where the school quality would fall off more precipitously. People still buy a few newly built houses near me for sub-$300 I think, but I wouldn't hold up Ambridge schools as high quality (the elementary for my area is not bad, the whole system isn't horrible but still only about average or below for the wider area).

[aeland]

Thank you all SO much! I guess location is key. . . close proximity to things (shopping, grocery, restaurants, etc). Since I have little ones a yard is key, other young families and GREAT schools is a must.

I know I said new, but I don't mind older. I guess good construction is best, but I don't want a total fixer upper.

Here is what I am gathering. . .
Fox Chapel
Cranberry
Sewickely
and now I am blanking now that I'm typing.

Anyway, I am really nervous about this move and truly appreciate all your help.

[aeland]

Sorry, one more question (for now). . . is there one big realtor in the area ?

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by aeland

Thank you all SO much! I guess location is key. . . close proximity to things (shopping, grocery, restaurants, etc). Since I have little ones a yard is key, other young families and GREAT schools is a must.

I know I said new, but I don't mind older. I guess good construction is best, but I don't want a total fixer upper.

Here is what I am gathering. . .
Fox Chapel
Cranberry
Sewickely
and now I am blanking now that I'm typing.

Anyway, I am really nervous about this move and truly appreciate all your help.

First you have to figure out what you want in a house. By this I mean how much of a fixer do you want. If you want to spend between 300 and 400 then you can probably cross Fox Chapel off your list. Realistically, not much in your price range unless you want to spend over 400. Sure there are exceptions: ranches or compete fixers or houses that overlook Route 28. If you look in O'Hara then you have some options in the high 200s and in the 300s. In this price range you will be sacrificing something location, size or finishes. An updated home in O'Hara will start at 350,000 and could go into the 400,000 range depending on what neighborhood and how updated. Also, O'Hara isn't that big. I think you have more options is the 300,000 to 400,000 range in Hampton. I would say that you have even more options in that price range in Cranberry/Seven Fields. Sewickley is a great town but it is pricey. Sure you can find a place in you price range but are you going to like it? That is your call. I love Sewickley but I am not sure if I would be happy living there with a 300,000 budget (my budget if I would ever move, not yours) In short, you will have more options of newer updates houses in the North Suburbs. (NA Schools, Seneca Valley, maybe Hampton, etc.)

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by aeland

Sorry, one more question (for now). . . is there one big realtor in the area ?

There are a few different companies with good coverage. Pretty much any agent will show any house.

[Bong477]

Sewickely and Fox Chapel will be pushing your budget to get a nice, updated home. Also note that taxes may be more than you expect making your effective housing cost a bit higher.

The northern suburbs are all pretty nice. Franklin Park, Mars, Pine, McCandless, Hampton, Wexford (which as pointed out is a combination of a few areas), Gibsonia. Schools in any of these are as good as anywhere else in the area and are good enough that you can feel happy about yourself sending your children there, though some will argue about the nuances of which is the "best."