Post Gazette Essay on a Transplant's Frustrating Home Search (Pittsburgh: real estate market, condo)

[Goodjules]

I don't expect everyone to love Pittsburgh. I don't like Phoenix, yet it's a very popular place to live. What amazed me about the author is that she is moving here to retire and did so little research about it beforehand. She has "advanced degrees" after all. You'd think research would be the first thing she would do. Maybe seeing 50+ houses with her realtor is her research? She either has to move to a suburb with newer homes in a flatter area, learn to love the geography of the city, or go back to Philly (or elsewhere). One of the commenters to the article pointed out that she would be well served not to look in areas with the word "hills" in their name, as in the "North Hills" or the "South Hills."

I learned a lot about this place before I made my decision to buy. I wanted an older home. I loved the geography. It would be like me writing an article about Phoenix and complaining that I can't find a 100 year old house on a hill and that the weather is too darn hot.

[AnneWest]

IMO...too many people expect Pittsburgh to be the same as their own town. Too much of America is now homogenized, and when people move here they expect a certain sameness and familiarity. Pittsburgh isn't. And I'm proud of that.

The private backyard comment cracked me up tho. I grew up in an era when tall fences separating backyards were called spite fences. They were usually a minor neighborhood scandal. Now, if you put in a few years of growing tall hedges, that was the sneaky way around it.

[Tinare]

I just couldn't get past someone moving to one of the hilliest cities in America and saying, "I don't like all these hills." That's like moving to London and saying, "I can't stand the rain." Or to Tucson and saying, "I hate cacti" or "I want a lush, grassy yard."

[youngabe]

I think finding what you want out of a house in Pittsburgh is a tough search...if you want to stay in the city limits like I did. If you don't mind expanding to the suburbs...I don't think it should be a hard search. North Hills, Cranberry...if you don't mind those areas, then the house search shouldn't be that difficult. I have to wonder what areas the person in the article has considered?

I do agree with her on one thing--getting around here is a major PITA half the time!

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

In all my real estate years, I have never showed 50 homes to anyone. That is a lot of homes. Most people have perimeters that narrow searches down a lot.

You're an agent? For some reason I thought you worked/owned a company that flips houses? Not that those are mutually exclusive.

I probably looked at nearly 50 homes. I was only being picky with price though. I was outbid on 4 homes that I had offers on, backed out of one after the inspection, and had 2 or 3 other ones that I would have made an offer one but a "cash, no inspection, above asking price" deal was struck in less than 24 hours, before I even had time to sleep on the decision.

My only requirements were to be in the city, in at least a semi-walkable area, and under $80K unless it was a multi-unit. Had no concrete rules about number of bedrooms, off street parking, yards, garages, etc. So A LOT of homes qualified for me to take a look.

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Speaking of which, have you been to Primanti's yet, Julie? If not, make sure you go to the one in the Strip District late at night.

I went there during the day in 2006. I'll have to do a late night visit this time around. By "late night" what time do you mean?

[Goodjules]

Originally Posted by AnneWest

IMO...too many people expect Pittsburgh to be the same as their own town. Too much of America is now homogenized, and when people move here they expect a certain sameness and familiarity. Pittsburgh isn't. And I'm proud of that.

People are that way everywhere. People complain about the cold foggy summers in SF. They think the entire state is beaches, surfing and sunshine. I can understand complaining if you move somewhere because you have to, for a job or school, but when you choose a place it would seem logical to learn about what it's like before you move.

[trackstar13]

Originally Posted by Caladium

LOL I totally get what track was saying, but I also agree that 50 homes is way too many to see in one day (unless you're in that sort of situation, as track was).

No we looked at about 50 houses in about a month and offered on 3-4 homes before had an accepted offer with the right house. So we were serious buyers, but looked at a significant amount of inventory. Prior to buying a house we did our research, but once we started actually getting in the houses and taking a look it was a harder decision. Now that we are seasoned homebuyers/owners we would probably look at less houses, but as someone who has moved to several areas and bought in some of them, it can be tough when you move to a new, unfamiliar place to pull the trigger and buy a house. With that being said the lady in the aforementioned article is still a complainer.

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by juliegt

I went there during the day in 2006. I'll have to do a late night visit this time around. By "late night" what time do you mean?

Late night for Primanti's would be 1:30 to 3:30 when the place is lively with people coming back from the bars.

[sealie]

Juliegt, have you been subjected to the magic that is Rick Sebak's Pittsburgh documentaries on PBS/WQED? He has a really old one called Strip Show which features, as you might imagine, the Strip District. It's worth a watch if you like slightly over-the-top local color, and I think they had some footage of late-night Primantis action.