Craigslist Rental Market? (Pittsburgh, Carnegie, Crafton: for sale, real estate, rentals) - Pennsylvania (PA) - City-Data Forum

springheeledjack · 03-09-2014, 02:22 PM

Hi all. The opportunity as arisen for me to transfer to Pittsburgh temporarily (2-3 years), but I'm a little bit confused when it comes to housing. Our family lives in Valdosta, GA but my wife and I are originally from Atlanta. I visited the city of Pittsburgh last summer and liked what I saw even though I was only there for the weekend. What I'm seeing on Craigslist in the way of houses for rent though is kind of limiting. My wife and I have two boys (ages 9 & 12), and we're looking for at minimum a 3 bed / 2 bath house. Again, we will be renting since this will be a temporary move for us. I'm amazed at both the slim pickings in the way of housing as well as the rental rates, which are in many cases double (or more) than what we would expect to pay to rent a house that is larger (and more modern, nicer) down here. What is the reason behind this? I've read that Pittsburgh is a very affordable city, but it sure doesn't seem affordable at all to rent there. Am I missing something? Is Craigslist just not the place to look? It is here, so that's where I started my search. I'll also note that I called a realtor who covered the suburb of Robinson, and the listings she emailed me were mostly more of the same. The lowest price ($2200 per month) listing I got from her looked was a 3 bedroom ranch that looked run down in the pictures. The kitchen didn't look like it was updated since the 1980's. A house like that would run $600 / month here.

JimboPGH · 03-09-2014, 02:30 PM

This is a very affordable city in terms of buying a house, but the rental market is a bit tight and good deals can be hard to find.

Stay away from newer construction in exurbia if you want a good deal. Look at renovated places in the older suburbs.

Are going to be working downtown? How close to the city do you want to be? Does it matter if you have access to a busline? Do you want a walkable community, or do you want to be half a mile from your nearest neighbor?

Hopes · 03-09-2014, 02:35 PM

It's cheaper to own than to rent here. It has always been that way, but rental prices are increasing even more because there is a shortage of rentals. I guess since most people buy (since it's cheaper to own), developers haven't kept up with the rental demand.

Rentals typically don't have the latest updates. (Heck, many houses for sale don't either.) Landlords are in this to make money. There's no need to update if people will rent without updates.

Craig's List has a good representation of housing prices. You might find a deal through a realtor but usually more expensive homes are listed with realtors.

You're probably going to have to accept the fact that you're going to be living in what you might consider a dump.

JimboPGH · 03-09-2014, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hopes

You're probably going to have to accept the fact that you're going to be living in what you might consider a dump.

Not necessarily, although a 3 bedroom, 2 bath with updates, located in a decent school district won't be easy to find for less than about 1,200, I'd imagine.

Maybe the Crafton/Ingram/Carnegie area would be a good place to look?

Shaler perhaps?

springheeledjack · 03-09-2014, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hopes

It's cheaper to own than to rent here. It has always been that way, but rental prices are increasing even more because there is a shortage of rentals. I guess since most people buy (since it's cheaper to own), developers haven't kept up with the rental demand.

Rentals typically don't have the latest updates. (Heck, many houses for sale don't either.) Landlords are in this to make money. There's no need to update if people will rent without updates.

Craig's List has a good representation of housing prices. You might find a deal through a realtor but usually more expensive homes are listed with realtors.

You're probably going to have to accept the fact that you're going to be living in what you might consider a dump.

Wow. Thanks for the straight-foreward insight! You probably saved us a lot of headaches. I just couldn't see us living in any of the places that were presented to us that were within what we were willing to spend. While we more than could afford spending over $50,000 on rent over the course of the next two years, I can't find anything justifying the additional expense. The cost of renting in Pittsburgh would shave off all of the bonus pay for the assignment and then some. Unfortunately we're not in a position to buy, as this would've been a temporary assignment only, so I really didn't look too far into real estate prices. What I did see seemed like it would average about 15-20% more than what the prices are here in south Georgia.

Hopes · 03-09-2014, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by springheeledjack

Wow. Thanks for the straight-foreward insight! You probably saved us a lot of headaches. I just couldn't see us living in any of the places that were presented to us that were within what we were willing to spend. While we more than could afford spending over $50,000 on rent over the course of the next two years, I can't find anything justifying the additional expense. The cost of renting in Pittsburgh would shave off all of the bonus pay for the assignment and then some. Unfortunately we're not in a position to buy, as this would've been a temporary assignment only, so I really didn't look too far into real estate prices. What I did see seemed like it would average about 15-20% more than what the prices are here in south Georgia.

Does this mean you're not coming to Pittsburgh now, or that you will simply search for a less-than-perfect house that's priced within your current budget?

zman63 · 03-09-2014, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hopes

It's cheaper to own than to rent here. It has always been that way, but rental prices are increasing even more because there is a shortage of rentals. I guess since most people buy (since it's cheaper to own), developers haven't kept up with the rental demand.

Rentals typically don't have the latest updates. (Heck, many houses for sale don't either.) Landlords are in this to make money. There's no need to update if people will rent without updates.

Craig's List has a good representation of housing prices. You might find a deal through a realtor but usually more expensive homes are listed with realtors.

You're probably going to have to accept the fact that you're going to be living in what you might consider a dump.

I knew there were smart and unbiased people on this board. Good accurate post.

Pittsburgh is full of dated housing with over bloated rents and home prices.

cooky01 · 03-09-2014, 04:37 PM

I have a rental that can possibly meet both your quality expectations, and budget.
Shoot me a private message if interested...I don't want to spam the forum.

stburr91 · 03-09-2014, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zman63

Pittsburgh is full of dated housing with over bloated rents and home prices.

It is a supply and demand market, if rents were too high, rentals would sit vacant.

Low cost real estate is a bit of a myth here in Pittsburgh, rents are high, it doesn't matter if you are renting from a landlord, or from the government.

SorryIMovedBack · 03-09-2014, 07:37 PM

There were few rental houses available back in 2011 when I looked for something to rent that was 1500 sq ft or so. Landlords mostly don't allow pets at all. If you have pets, losta luck. One of the things that makes rental houses scarce is the number of Marcellus shale gas workers migrating to the region. Most of that business is not in Pittsburgh, but it sure has sucked up a lot of rental property or else raised the rents out of sight.