That One Greater Pittsburgh Home That Just "Speaks" to You (Bellevue: chapel, houses)

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by cowboyxjon

Paul, it looks like the house you're looking at is considered to be multi-family with three units, according to the listing. I'm curious to know exactly how it's broken up into three units!

It's a three story home. I'm sure an apartment is on each floor (1st, 2nd, and attic).

Originally Posted by RestonRunner86

For me tonight I just saw this home in Larimer that is really calling my name:

You could probably buy that house for under $5,000. If you check out the Allegheny County Real Estate website, you'll see that it was purchased in 2006 for $1,684 and then sold at a loss in 2009 for $1,000. Taxes are $125/year and don't appear to have been paid for the past 5 years. The neighborhood is dangerous though, not sure you'd want to blaze your trail as a first time homeowner there, but for unde $5,000, you could become a slum lord.

http://www2.county.allegheny.pa.us/R...&SearchParcel=

[Caladium]

Fun thread. Here's a place I'd lust after if I lived there. Check out the river views!

151 First Side | Downtown Pittsburgh Condominiums (http://www.151firstside.com/index.php5 - broken link)

[PennHillsNative80]

I love the old Singer Mansion in Wilkinsburg. I hear it's vacant unfortunately...... I've seen pictures of what it was like on the inside years ago and it looked marvelous. I sincerely hope it's not vandalized..

Here's a link to a series of photos on the mansion on Flickr
Flickr: Search Dorsett Studios' photostream (http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=singer&w=10077757%40N00 - broken link)

This photographer has a very interesting series on the rest of Wilkinsburg too.

[ebyrnes]

Great thread, RR! Since I'm looking to move back to Pittsburgh, I've been looking at real estate daily. The house that I really wanted sold too quickly for me: Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Homes for Sale & Pittsburgh Real Estate - Zillow. It is a Sears Craftsman house, and they hadn't made to many awful renovations (although the cast iron sink was sitting in the front yard, trying to get back in - that would have been my first project). I've dreamed of living in a Sears house all my life, and here was my chance, at a price that I could afford and a terrific location. BUT - I wasn't yet divorced yet so I couldn't move and some other lucky soul bought it.

I haven't found another house that speaks to me like this one, but if anyone knows of a Craftsman for sale, please let me know!

ETA: My Gram lived on Galveston Ave, which crosses Beech Street; we spent many nights walking thru her neighborhood and I'd love to live there but of course cannot afford to. And one of my cats, Sandusky, came from the basement of the house by AGH; I was lucky to catch her after weeks of feeding her. I dream of that place, too. I think of what I would do if I won the lottery - I'd spend a hella money on that neighborhood, since there is no good reason for it to be the way that it is.

e in Philadelphia

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by Hopes

I love the empty house on the corner across the street from Allegheny General Hospital. It just speaks to me every time I drive past it.

That house has been for sale for eternity----years and years. I assume it's over priced because of its uniqueness and location.



Here's the link to the Allegheny County assessment website which says it's condemned and only worth 2k: http://www2.county.allegheny.pa.us/R...&SearchParcel=

That is only a shell of a house, the entire inside of it has been gutted from floor to ceiling. The reason it hasn't been sold is because there's literally nothing you could do with it without spending a fortune.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

The reason it hasn't been sold is because there's literally nothing you could do with it without spending a fortune.

That's a no-brainer.

That's why I said it was probably over priced.

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

That is only a shell of a house, the entire inside of it has been gutted from floor to ceiling.

There's nothing wrong with a gutted house. I've gutted two houses. It's a pain in the rear. I'd rather have a pre-gutted one.

Regardless, it doesn't matter. It SPEAKS to me! That is what the thread is about!

I love the detail on the slate roof. I love how it has a back wing with a porch along the sidewalk. I love the location.

It just love everything about the outside of the house.

IT SPEAKS TO ME!

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Well.... alrighty then.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

Well.... alrighty then.

Just looked up the listing. It has been lowered from 165k to 139k. Mark my words, it won't sell until it's near 50k.

Oh, and I would prefer it to be much more gutted than it is. Most of the plaster walls are still intact.

[FreightTrainRunning]

Originally Posted by ossewa

This is 913 Beech in Allegheny West. It was built in 1887 for William and Emma Beggs who lived there until 1900. Its a Queen Anne style row house, which is kind of rare in Pittsburgh. William was a marble cutter and probably built all the mantels in the house himself. I am consumed with lust for this place, but 300k is too much for me and my wife...sigh....

Funny, this afternoon I got a post-card from a real-estate agent dropped in my mail slot with a picture of 913 Beech on it and a big "SOLD" stamped across it. I guess that you're too late on that one. Thanks for the nice words about Beech Ave though, we've lived here for four years and love it. We bought basically the last "bargain" on the street although the price we paid was many times what people in the 70s and 80s were paying for houses here. They were giving them away at that point.

My wife and I talk about that house on the corner of North and Cedar every time we drive past it. Amazing house but you'd have to put $200K+ into it after you paid for it. You basically have to build a whole new house inside the shell, preserving as much of the woodwork as possible but all new wiring, plumbing, heating, walls, ceilings, kitchens, bathrooms, etc. The money would probably never work for a single family house, you'd have to create an apartment house or more likely, office space out of it to make it worthwhile.

[ossewa]

Thanks for the info GeneW. Well, at least it won't be sitting empty and unheated much longer. I am curious to see what it sold for.

I guess I'll transfer my attention to 846, although its history isn't tragic like 913, with William Beggs sudden death at 44 and his family's subsequent descent into poverty, but scandal can be interesting. In the 1880's 846 Beech was the home of Mary Lockhart whose wastrel husband was the grandson of superrich Charles Lockhart. Mary knew her husband was cheating and set up a "sting" operation that ended up in the all newspapers.

Every house on your street has something interesting in its past.