Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Pittsburgh
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-11-2014, 07:13 AM
 
45 posts, read 98,858 times
Reputation: 29

Advertisements

Hello,

I found a nice rental home in Bon air that has the option to purchase after a year. It is completely renovated from top to bottom. Would it be a wise investment if the price was good? The school district is not very good at any level, so I was wondering if that would be a major issue when trying to resell years down the road. We want our son in a better school district when it is time for him to go to school, so it would not be a house that we would stay in forever. Thanks for any info.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-11-2014, 08:07 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Morningside)
14,360 posts, read 16,870,700 times
Reputation: 12390
Quote:
Originally Posted by ejraste View Post
Hello,

I found a nice rental home in Bon air that has the option to purchase after a year. It is completely renovated from top to bottom. Would it be a wise investment if the price was good? The school district is not very good at any level, so I was wondering if that would be a major issue when trying to resell years down the road. We want our son in a better school district when it is time for him to go to school, so it would not be a house that we would stay in forever. Thanks for any info.
I think the bad part about buying in Bon Air is not the school district. The local schools are mediocre, not terrible, and plenty of "hot" parts of the city (North Side, Lawrenceville, Highland Park, etc) have what are generally considered to be "worse" local schools.

What you should really worry about is that Bon Air is an island of stability surrounded by declining areas like Beltzhoover, Knoxville, and Carrick. Right now It's an affordable area with relatively flat real estate prices. But it wouldn't take much for it to tilt into actual decline, meaning it's quite possible you'll lose money when you try to sell, or just have difficulty selling to anyone in general. Indeed, that this house is offered to you rent-to-own should show you the area is already becoming marginal. You don't see much of that in desirable or even stable neighborhoods.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2014, 08:20 AM
 
6,596 posts, read 8,912,458 times
Reputation: 4673
I agree with Eschaton. If just having a decent place to live is your main goal, Bon Air fits the bill, but if you're truly interested in it as an investment, it's not a sure thing. Bon Air has been in Pittsburgh Public for decades -- the schools are already calculated into the prices there.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2014, 08:29 AM
 
45 posts, read 98,858 times
Reputation: 29
If my child could go to a good school while living there, then we would reside there for a while. I am just curious if I would ever be able to resell when the time comes. Of course, we would be interested in getting into the mt Lebanon school district for our son when he is ready for school.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2014, 08:39 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh, PA (Morningside)
14,360 posts, read 16,870,700 times
Reputation: 12390
Quote:
Originally Posted by ejraste View Post
If my child could go to a good school while living there, then we would reside there for a while. I am just curious if I would ever be able to resell when the time comes. Of course, we would be interested in getting into the mt Lebanon school district for our son when he is ready for school.
The local school for that area is Concord K-5, which is mediocre, not truly awful. It shares the school with northern Carrick. The school is around 54% white, 18% Asian, 14% black, 9% multi-racial, and 4% Hispanic. The black student body had been growing, but is now in decline, while the Asian population is skyrocketing because this school is where the Bhutanese Nepali population in Pittsburgh is concentrated. 84% of students qualify for a free or reduced lunch.

Honestly, the influx of Asians into Carrick is one of the best things which has happened to the neighborhood in awhile, and IMHO will help to stabilize the school system, and hence probably the desirability of Carrick, in the longer run. I'm not sure about the knock-off effects on Bon Air, however, because despite sharing a school there is no road connection between the two. The big question for the future of Bon Air is will southern Knoxville continue to decline. If it does it's just a matter of time before the ghetto crosses Tarragonna Street.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2014, 09:33 AM
 
43,011 posts, read 107,622,222 times
Reputation: 30710
You'll definitely be able to sell it. The question is if you'll lose money, break even, or have a profit.

How many years do you plan to live there? That's the main determining factor, assuming you're not overpaying when you buy.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2014, 10:20 AM
 
45 posts, read 98,858 times
Reputation: 29
Well, since school district is very important to us, we would only be there for 5 to 10 years. If the elementary school is not that bad then we would be OK to start our son there. Once he gets a little older, we would def look into getting into a better school district.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2014, 10:56 AM
 
43,011 posts, read 107,622,222 times
Reputation: 30710
You won't get a profit living in it for only 5 years. You can break even if you buy at a good price.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2014, 11:06 AM
 
45 posts, read 98,858 times
Reputation: 29
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopes View Post
You won't get a profit living in it for only 5 years. You can break even if you buy at a good price.
Thanks for the information!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2014, 11:12 AM
 
Location: The Flagship City and Vacation in the Paris of Appalachia
2,773 posts, read 3,832,504 times
Reputation: 2066
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopes View Post
You won't get a profit living in it for only 5 years. You can break even if you buy at a good price.
Yes I agree with the 5 year recommendation and the rent to own situation makes this even more complicated. As a rule of thumb I always say that you have to be in a house 5 years to at least break even and recoup some of the real estate agent costs and your down payment. If you are doing rent to own it is definitely longer because you are not the actual owner of the house and not paying down any principal. So for this scenario I would say 5 years from when the ownership is transferred to break even, which could end up being 7-10 years. Of course you could actually make out pretty well in an improving market if you follow this recommendation, but it is better to be safe than sorry and even if the house declines or just maintains value during the ownership period, the 5 year threshold is pretty good and helps insulate the homeowner from potential losses. I also think it applies very well to the Pittsburgh market, which has not historically been a boom and bust market, but rather a slow and steady appreciating market.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Pittsburgh

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top