California family relocating (Pittsburgh, Lebanon, Fox Chapel: sale, house, buy)

[Bong477]

The "fun downtown" requirement in combination with good schools really limits your options to a few city hoods (Shadyside, Point Breeze, and Squirrel Hill), Mt Lebo, and Sewickley. 550k is a solid (but not extravagant) budget for these areas.

If you drop the business district requirement, a ton of nice middle to upper middle class suburban areas open up. Its not that hard to get around here on the evenings and weekends to take advantage of the fun places, you don't have to live there to enjoy them.

I'll echo the property tax issue, make sure to include that in your housing affordability.

[robrobrob]

Originally Posted by Bong477

The "fun downtown" requirement in combination with good schools really limits your options to a few city hoods (Shadyside, Point Breeze, and Squirrel Hill), Mt Lebo, and Sewickley. 550k is a solid (but not extravagant) budget for these areas.

If you drop the business district requirement, a ton of nice middle to upper middle class suburban areas open up. Its not that hard to get around here on the evenings and weekends to take advantage of the fun places, you don't have to live there to enjoy them.

I'll echo the property tax issue, make sure to include that in your housing affordability.

I agree with this 550,000 is a great budget for the Burgh until you start looking in the best neighborhoods. Mt. Lebanon probably has the best bang for your buck in the "best" neighborhoods. You will also have the most options there. I bet you can find a place you are happy with in Mt. Lebanon unless you want a McMansion and in that case you may have to up your budget if you are looking in the top neighborhoods.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by juliegt

When I came here in 2006 looking at houses, my budget was a lot higher because my tiny CA home was worth $650k at the time. I quickly figured out how high property taxes were here. I agree she should be warned. But I also think people who have owned homes will think to ask about property taxes, utilities, etc. I'm kind of surprised your friend didn't do that. Do they not have property taxes in Canada?

Julia, the purpose of this website is to share this information with people, not just assume they already know everything. We get many people who are unaware of the property tax issue. It's just a fact, no matter how illogical you think it is. Just look at all the threads where people didn't realize their taxes would increase due to their purchase price. They thought the taxes would stay the same as the previous owners were paying!

My girlfriend's problem wasn't property taxes. Her problem was being mislead by the realtor about the value of the home. I shared that because you disregarded my warning the OP with "her realtor can tell her about that." It's irrelevant if my friend was soooooo stupid to get herself into that situation. My point is that it does happen. THAT'S the reason we're here---to help people understand specifics to this region, not just tell them their realtor will guide them. The information might be somewhere else, some people might know to look it up themselves, BUT the purpose of City Data is to provide that information here.

Only good can come from warning people what to watch out for when moving here. Only bad can come from assuming they will figure it out for themselves. Too much information is better than no information. And making the assumption that people will buy within their budget isn't really helpful when there are many people who think they are in candy land when they come from higher cost of living areas. Plus, you're making the assumption that the OP and my Canadian friend were already homeowners. Maybe they were, but it's still an assumption that they don't need information when the purpose of City Data is to give information.

As for your school district, I was merely pointing out the differences between you and the OP in your searches for homes. You had different budgets and different school district requirements. Both of those differences could push the OP into paying higher taxes than she expected.

I don't see why you want to argue about this all the time. Yes, Pittsburgh is a great savings compared to San Francisco, but only for the people who are armed with knowledge so they can take advantage of the lower cost of living benefits. You did your homework by arming yourself with that knowledge. People come to ask questions here because they're doing their homework too.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Bong477

The "fun downtown" requirement in combination with good schools really limits your options to a few city hoods (Shadyside, Point Breeze, and Squirrel Hill), Mt Lebo, and Sewickley. 550k is a solid (but not extravagant) budget for these areas.

Originally Posted by robrobrob

I agree with this 550,000 is a great budget for the Burgh until you start looking in the best neighborhoods.

There are very few homes over 550k in Mt. Lebanon and Sewickley for sale (and Fox Chapel and Squirrel Hill).

Seriously, there's less than a handful in each township.

Howard Hanna Real Estate Services - Real Estate - Pittsburgh - Property - Proplist

If you go to 350 to 450, there are more options. Heck, there are even more houses in the 250 to 350 range in those top districts.

There's no reason to spend more in a top district when it's not necessary.

[sealie]

The fun downtown AND good schools AND semirural (aka > 1 acre) is what's going to make this difficult if not impossible to place. You can probably get two of the three. Also a working definition of "good schools" is probably in order; do you mean "generally college bound students who enter college prepared" or "absoute state-of-the-art equipment, full array of advanced classes, in a school district with a well-known reputation for excellence and students who routinely get accepted into the Ivies"?

With those stipulations it's easier to find semirural and above-average schools around but not in Sewickley than Mt Leb, I'd think.

[Hopes]

A fun/great downtown is a requirement. An acre of land isn't a requirement.

That's why Sewickley and Mt. Lebanon are the only matches close to where she wants to live.

[sparrowmint]

Originally Posted by juliegt

When I came here in 2006 looking at houses, my budget was a lot higher because my tiny CA home was worth $650k at the time. I quickly figured out how high property taxes were here. I agree she should be warned. But I also think people who have owned homes will think to ask about property taxes, utilities, etc. I'm kind of surprised your friend didn't do that. Do they not have property taxes in Canada?

There likely wouldn't be anywhere in Canada with property taxes as high as around here. It would be unthinkable, and it's not a top subject of discussion from municipality to municipality compared to here. Mainly because schools are funded at a higher, dedicated percentage at the provincial level, and so you pay more in sales and income taxes and less in property taxes. So I can easily see how someone could be blind-sided by that, and not even think to ask (assuming they were homeowners to begin with). It's easy to not know what you don't know.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by Hopes

A fun/great downtown is a requirement. An acre of land isn't a requirement.

That's why Sewickley and Mt. Lebanon are the only matches close to where she wants to live.

I'm with Hopes. Mt. Lebanon has a nice downtown. My friends in the North Hills are moving there to a townhouse right near downtown.

Here are 24 houses there between $300-500,000. Mount Lebanon Real Estate & Mount Lebanon Homes For Sale — Trulia.com

Of those, these 15 cost between $300-400,000. Mount Lebanon Real Estate & Mount Lebanon Homes For Sale — Trulia.com

I don't know how close any of these is to downtown Mt. Lebanon.

[okaydorothy]

Remember that Mt. Lebanon does not have busing for kids. That was one thing that turned us off that district.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by okaydorothy

Remember that Mt. Lebanon does not have busing for kids. That was one thing that turned us off that district.

Oh, no. They have to walk to school. The horror. The indignity.