Is Squirrel Hill expensive?

[I_Like_Spam]

Squirrel Hill has a lot of expensive homes, but also a lot of less pricy domiciles as well.

Most of the cheaper properties are toward the south, but not all. There are at least some pretty modest homes along Wilkins Ave.

South Squirrel Hill is convenient to shopping with a Giant Eagle at Murray and Loretto and a short hop across the High Level Bridge to Macy's and other shopping destinations on the historic Homestead Waterfront.

[Denton56]

Originally Posted by nuwaver88

Get yourself a window unit for your bedroom or wherever and close off the other doors and stay in that room as much as possible. You are still pretty young, but you will get tired of that sweating while trying to sleep as you get older. I know everyone has a budget, but put it on credit if you can. Sleep is too important of an aspect of life and the AC window unit is a good investment, especially for city dwellers. My electric bill was only $15.00 more and I had it cranked during a hot and humid July. That's fifty cents a day to be comfortable and get some sleep.

Good post. Window units aren't that expensive.

Yes, a good night's sleep is worth a lot, at least a dollar or two. Most people can't function well without sleep. Among other things, it's dangerous to be driving when sleep deprived.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

Squirrel Hill has a lot of expensive homes, but also a lot of less pricy domiciles as well.

Most of the cheaper properties are toward the south, but not all. There are at least some pretty modest homes along Wilkins Ave.

South Squirrel Hill is convenient to shopping with a Giant Eagle at Murray and Loretto and a short hop across the High Level Bridge to Macy's and other shopping destinations on the historic Homestead Waterfront.

I would be looking along Wilkins if my budget was 250,000. These tend to come on the market a frequently. Not my first choice of locations but if I was working in Oakland it would be better than living on the other side of Allederdice.

[Magali27]

Originally Posted by ex-burgher

I would look into Point Breeze and the Pittsburgh part of Regent Square. These areas are less expensive than Squirrel Hill and, I think, nicer than South Squirrel Hill.

Are you kidding? South Squirrel Hill is great! Unless you're speaking realtores, i.e., using the phrase "South Squirrel Hill" to describe what is actually Greenfield. As long as it's on the Sq Hill side of the parkway (i.e., actually is Squirrel Hill, not Greenfield), it's great. Tons of families.

The Pittsburgh part of Regent Square is nice, but it's VERY SMALL. I was amazed to discover that most of what I thought was the Pittsburgh part of Regent Square is actually not Pittsburgh, but Swissvale! In other words it's Woodland Hills instead of Pittsburgh school district, and there's no Pittsburgh Promise. Most of Regent Square between Braddock and Frick Park is Swissvale. I only found this out today.

There happens to be a gorgeous duplex in the Pittsburgh part of Regent Square available right now. I visited it but it wasn't for me--I wanted an investment property, so I was hoping for something that could be rented out as two 2BR or a 3BR/1BR combo, but this house has basically an entire 4BR house (where you could live with your family) sitting on top of a large 1BR apartment (where some grad student could live and pay half your mortgage for you). And in some respects it needs updating, but it's really gorgeous--stained glass, woodwork... There's no garage but you could build a small one. They're asking $285k, so I'm sure you could easily get it for $250k, which probably means an $1800 mortgage (taxes and insurance inclued)... but I think you could rent the 1BR for at least $750, so really, it would be like you only paid $170k or so for the house. Here's a link: [mod]link removed, please read the tos[/mod]

[SquirrelBurgher]

If you want a cheaper house with more space for your money in a safe neighborhood in the Allderdice feeder area, there is also Greenfield, which starts right across Murray Avenue from the southern end of Squirrel Hill. Many of the houses there are indistinguishable from the ones in Squirrel Hill although more of them may require some refurbishment. Also there is Swisshelm Park, which is the city neighborhood adjoining Swissvale. Both are much cheaper than Regent Square, which has become a trendy place to live with prices similar to Squirrel Hill.

[Garvdog]

Funny how you mention that Pittsburgh has "a lot of wealth". I'm guessing from your forum name that you hail from Seattle. Seattle has a whole lot more wealth than Pittsburgh, and real estate costs more, even when accounting for our crazy property taxes.

[selltheburgh]

There is a lot of old money in Sq Hill, especially north of forbes.

Swisshelm Park is definitely not on par with Sq Hill regarding pricing. It is significantly less than the average and definitely less than the southern area near Mindedeo.