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Old 12-21-2015, 10:12 PM
 
4 posts, read 7,047 times
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We are a child free couple looking forward to move to Pittsburgh in spring. We are currently overseas. We have a budget of $80,000 cash to find a home within the city limits or in the burbs closer to city area. I know our budget is quite paltry.. we have contacted 2 agents so far and the response was lackluster. Perhaps we are too much work being overseas and all. We are visiting Pittsburgh end of this month for 3 weeks to look around and meet with our agent. Honestly I get the feeling we are wasting her time, too little money too much work. If anyone here know a good realtor who is willing to help us out, I am very appreciative. We are both reasonable people and very easy to work with. We are originally from Portland,OR. My husband is semi retired and I am not employed at this time but planning to look for work when we get there (social worker). We plan to upgrade in about 3 years. Most of the houses within our budget and within city limits has only 1 bathroom. It is crucial for us to have at least 1.5 bath. So we have been looking into penn hills, munhall, forest hills. Found a few houses also in Brighton Heights, Lincoln Place, Overbrook. Looks like you get more house in Penn Hills than anywhere else. I read a lot of Penn Hills thread here and have mixed feelings. Any suggestions or realtor recommendations would really help. We will be in Pittsburgh on the 26th this month and would like to get started as soon as possible. Thank you!
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Old 12-21-2015, 10:50 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MayoNz View Post
We are a child free couple looking forward to move to Pittsburgh in spring. We are currently overseas. We have a budget of $80,000 cash to find a home within the city limits or in the burbs closer to city area. I know our budget is quite paltry.. we have contacted 2 agents so far and the response was lackluster. Perhaps we are too much work being overseas and all. We are visiting Pittsburgh end of this month for 3 weeks to look around and meet with our agent. Honestly I get the feeling we are wasting her time, too little money too much work. If anyone here know a good realtor who is willing to help us out, I am very appreciative. We are both reasonable people and very easy to work with. We are originally from Portland,OR. My husband is semi retired and I am not employed at this time but planning to look for work when we get there (social worker). We plan to upgrade in about 3 years. Most of the houses within our budget and within city limits has only 1 bathroom. It is crucial for us to have at least 1.5 bath. So we have been looking into penn hills, munhall, forest hills. Found a few houses also in Brighton Heights, Lincoln Place, Overbrook. Looks like you get more house in Penn Hills than anywhere else. I read a lot of Penn Hills thread here and have mixed feelings. Any suggestions or realtor recommendations would really help. We will be in Pittsburgh on the 26th this month and would like to get started as soon as possible. Thank you!
I have agents sell me $25,000 homes and be happy as can be. There are a few agents on here who probably jump through hoops for you or give you a lead on a better agent. Just look at the names on some recent posts. You can get a nice home for 80 grand in those areas, but if I was looking I would avoid Penn hills. A similar community is west Mifflin but it has less crime.
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Old 12-21-2015, 11:01 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh's North Side
1,701 posts, read 1,599,209 times
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I can recommend Brighton Heights; great neighborhood and the value of the house should go up in the next 3-5 years given that the North side is doing really well right now. I think there may also be some options in Troy Hill for you, or over in Reserve Township. That has you nestled between the city and the North Hills, which is IMHO nicer than being over in the eastern suburbs.
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Old 12-21-2015, 11:07 PM
 
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Originally Posted by RogersParkTransplant View Post
I can recommend Brighton Heights; great neighborhood and the value of the house should go up in the next 3-5 years given that the North side is doing really well right now. I think there may also be some options in Troy Hill for you, or over in Reserve Township. That has you nestled between the city and the North Hills, which is IMHO nicer than being over in the eastern suburbs.
Reserve twp is very nice, It is small and I always forget about it. It is very peaceful and extremely close to town.
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Old 12-22-2015, 12:16 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh's North Side
1,701 posts, read 1,599,209 times
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Originally Posted by guy2073 View Post
Reserve twp is very nice, It is small and I always forget about it. It is very peaceful and extremely close to town.
Yes...I really like listings like 2515 Mt Troy Road (just saw it on zillow for $69k), but the next question is how much the OP wants to be in a city proper, and how much they prefer something more suburban. Reserve is a short drive to everywhere, and not a bad bus ride to downtown, but it's not really walkable. The question is just how the OP feels about walking vs. driving on a typical day.

Perry Hilltop / Brighton Heights would be awesome for the OP, though they would have to walk around and be sure they like the neighborhood. I do, a whole lot, but some would find it too gritty. 235 Lafayette Ave is adorable for $90k (again, I like window-shopping on zillow...), and since the OP is paying cash they might be able to negotiate for something like that.


OP, you really shouldn't have a hard time finding a good realtor who thinks $80k is a perfectly reasonable price for a house -- and I would think the fact that you're looking to pay cash is nice counterweight to the fact that you're doing this long-distance, and would be attractive for any realtor looking for a quick close.
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Old 12-22-2015, 08:39 AM
 
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Rogers and guy, thanks for the responses. I really love 235 Lafayette! What do you think of 3525 Fleming Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15212? A lot of house for the price. I'm planning to look for employment in social work so being in the city I figured there will be more opportunities. That's basically the only reason we want to stay in the city or close to the city. We certainly don't mind gritty and easy fixer upper if the price is low enough for us to put about 10-15K worth of repairs and still be within our budget.
I think our timing is also off.. we will be arriving on the 26th... with the holidays and all, most realtors are taking time off with their family. The realtor that I have been in contact is only available after new year. We really would like to get this process going and at least leave with inspection completed. We are in Malaysia currently and traveling back and forth is not at all feasible. We would actually rather rent and look for houses a lot more carefully but no one is going to rent to 2 unemployed adults.
I know this has been asked before... but what is wrong with penn hills? Saw a 3 bedroom 2 bath house on a really nice street for under $60K... move in ready, spacious kitchen, nice yard. I think it is in the churchill valley area of penn hills. House like this would cost a whole bunch of money in Portland, OR. I am quite a sucker for nice, shady tree lined streets but then again, we have never been to Pittsburgh.
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Old 12-22-2015, 09:09 AM
 
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I suggest renting for at least a few months so you can get your bearings and find out what areas suit you best.

I bought a house nearly half the price of your budget in Brighton Heights a few years ago and am pretty happy with it.
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Old 12-22-2015, 09:13 AM
 
3,595 posts, read 3,393,123 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MayoNz View Post
Rogers and guy, thanks for the responses. I really love 235 Lafayette! What do you think of 3525 Fleming Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15212? A lot of house for the price. I'm planning to look for employment in social work so being in the city I figured there will be more opportunities. That's basically the only reason we want to stay in the city or close to the city. We certainly don't mind gritty and easy fixer upper if the price is low enough for us to put about 10-15K worth of repairs and still be within our budget.
I think our timing is also off.. we will be arriving on the 26th... with the holidays and all, most realtors are taking time off with their family. The realtor that I have been in contact is only available after new year. We really would like to get this process going and at least leave with inspection completed. We are in Malaysia currently and traveling back and forth is not at all feasible. We would actually rather rent and look for houses a lot more carefully but no one is going to rent to 2 unemployed adults.
I know this has been asked before... but what is wrong with penn hills? Saw a 3 bedroom 2 bath house on a really nice street for under $60K... move in ready, spacious kitchen, nice yard. I think it is in the churchill valley area of penn hills. House like this would cost a whole bunch of money in Portland, OR. I am quite a sucker for nice, shady tree lined streets but then again, we have never been to Pittsburgh.
I don't have firm stats but the crime rate has been increasing and property values have diminished. When the criminal element was driven from areas like Lawrenceville and east liberty it moved to Penn hills. I kind of like Penn hills, but from hearing from some of my customers that are from there it is on the decline in a big way.
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Old 12-22-2015, 09:21 AM
 
4 posts, read 7,047 times
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Originally Posted by ferraris View Post
I suggest renting for at least a few months so you can get your bearings and find out what areas suit you best.

I bought a house nearly half the price of your budget in Brighton Heights a few years ago and am pretty happy with it.
That is very reasonable if we can find a landlord that would rent to 2 adults with no regular income. We can offer 6 months rent lump sum but wouldn't it be better if that lump sum goes towards a purchase of our own home? We are exceptional tenants with great credit and our previous landlord would give very good references but if I'm a landlord I wouldn't want to rent to someone overseas who doesn't have a job lined up in Pittsburgh. Oh and we have 3 cats. So yep.
Yeah we are pretty much in a challenging situation but it will work out.
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Old 12-22-2015, 09:24 AM
 
6,601 posts, read 8,982,581 times
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I don't know much about Penn Hills, but it is a very large municipality by Allegheny County standards. Even though prices are probably declining all across Penn Hills, I doubt that safety is also declining across the board. There's probably some real bargains to be had for someone who is willing to do their research and find a nice tucked away slice of Penn Hills.
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