Current Homes For Sale? (Pittsburgh, McKeesport: loans, affordable houses, neighborhoods)

[PreservationPioneer]

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate that it is still possible to buy a move-in ready house in a place like Pitcairn for $30,000? House values are going up, it's a seller's market, blah blah. But you can still get a deal like that! There are lots of little old towns like Pitcairn in the Pittsburgh metro that offer tremendous value and opportunity.

[PGH423]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

Can we all just take a moment to appreciate that it is still possible to buy a move-in ready house in a place like Pitcairn for $30,000? House values are going up, it's a seller's market, blah blah. But you can still get a deal like that! There are lots of little old towns like Pitcairn in the Pittsburgh metro that offer tremendous value and opportunity.

Are depressed prices really a good thing? I guess for buyers they are but for sellers and residents they are bad.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by PGH423

Are depressed prices really a good thing? I guess for buyers they are but for sellers and residents they are bad.

In a metro where some people complain about houses selling like crazy, low inventory, and arguably inflated prices, I think it's a good thing to have these pockets of super affordable homes. I think over time these local small towns will stabilize and provide home ownership opportunities for people who do not have high salaries.

[Knepper3]

I kinda say no, a move in ready home should never cost $30k. You are talking about a $150 a month mortgage which to me means that a living wage for that area should reflect that. I guess you dont need to pay more than min wage then. I won't get into min wages and living wages but I dont think that is a positive sign for an area. Also keep in mind that if a home right now is 30k, it likely has little chance of any appreciation. Homes are not just a roof over a person's head, it is also an investment and for many families it ends up being the only thing many can afford to leave to their children.

[Twenty Years in the Burgh]

Originally Posted by PreservationPioneer

I have a peach tile bathroom with peach fixtures and brown faux marble accents, in excellent condition. When people visit they are horrified. I tell them it's vintage. They don't understand. The guy I am seeing insists that I need to update it. I had to explain to him that things that are in good condition should not be replaced. That is my philosophy.

Is your bath original to the house? When looking for a house, I specifically looked for houses with original baths and other features that were in reasonably good condition. (The tile in the hall bath is black and white; the powder room in a soft blue.) I've noticed that several local agents have gotten wise to the fact that not every buyer wants a updated bath that looks like every other bathroom on HGTV or a brand new kitchen if the one in place is in good working order. Admittedly, there's a fine line between charmingly vintage and irretrievably dated, but there are definitely more than a few buyers/home owners like us.

Back to the original topic....while things are creeping up price-wise since I sold my last house in the "Great White North" and bought my current home in an inner ring suburb, I still have to say that for a mid-sized city, Pittsburgh still is wonderfully affordable for the average working person as long as their expectations of a modest, affordable home are reasonable.

[Twenty Years in the Burgh]

This is the upstairs bath and half baths. Paul, if you're looking for a resource to match the tile in your vintage bath, check out the Retrorenovation website. There's a ton of information there--I found period appropriate tile for my powder room through the site.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by Knepper3

I kinda say no, a move in ready home should never cost $30k. You are talking about a $150 a month mortgage which to me means that a living wage for that area should reflect that. I guess you dont need to pay more than min wage then. I won't get into min wages and living wages but I dont think that is a positive sign for an area. Also keep in mind that if a home right now is 30k, it likely has little chance of any appreciation. Homes are not just a roof over a person's head, it is also an investment and for many families it ends up being the only thing many can afford to leave to their children.

It depends on how you look at it. I am among a generation of Millennials who often complain about having student loan debt, lower wages than older generations, and finding it hard to save money to buy a home. It seems odd to me that low-priced, livable homes could be considered a bad thing, if there is a generation complaining about being priced out of home ownership and still living at home. I'm on my third cheap house in a depressed area, and have nothing bad to say about my investments so far. You also don't have much to lose, if you don't pay much for a property. Housing will always be worth something as a place to live or rent out. $150 per month mortgage on a house that rents for $700+ (even in Pitcairn) is a pretty good deal. Even if I were to take a loss on my McKeesport house, which won't happen because I stole it, I would have still managed to live like a king for $300 a month, in a region where rents on a house of that size might be triple that. It's not really a loss at all. I paid $10k for my first house and it was livable. I lived there for four years for basically free and saved about $25k. I'm not saying this path is for everyone, but I've been saying this forever -- it's an opportunity.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by Twenty Years in the Burgh

Is your bath original to the house? When looking for a house, I specifically looked for houses with original baths and other features that were in reasonably good condition. (The tile in the hall bath is black and white; the powder room in a soft blue.) I've noticed that several local agents have gotten wise to the fact that not every buyer wants a updated bath that looks like every other bathroom on HGTV or a brand new kitchen if the one in place is in good working order. Admittedly, there's a fine line between charmingly vintage and irretrievably dated, but there are definitely more than a few buyers/home owners like us.

Back to the original topic....while things are creeping up price-wise since I sold my last house in the "Great White North" and bought my current home in an inner ring suburb, I still have to say that for a mid-sized city, Pittsburgh still is wonderfully affordable for the average working person as long as their expectations of a modest, affordable home are reasonable.

My house McKeesport house was built in 1926. It is a brick four square. The kitchen and bath were updated in the 1970s or 1980s with high quality materials (peach tile in the bath, and high quality, solid Maple kitchen cabinets). They were well maintained by the original family over the years and still show nicely, in my opinion. They are not modern, but they suit my taste. Fortunately, the rest of the house is original to the 1920s design, including the unpainted woodwork and stained glass.

[Merge]

Originally Posted by gg

You sure have a way of typing something and saying NOTHING ever. Seriously, what does your statement even mean? Is there any point to typing something as stupid as that?

If you feel our weather isn't crap, PROVE it. If not, don't bother typing and wasting everyones time.

Here is our weather in a nutshell.

January-early April is a sloppy mess and cold. Hardly any sun.
Mid April to mid June is rain and wet.
July-early September is hot as blazes with near 100% humidity.
Mid September to end of October is nice
November and January is 40 and rain.

That is how you post a response, not your garbage personal attack nonsense that you ALWAYS do everytime you type anything!

Lighten up, Francis.

[Knepper3]

Originally Posted by Twenty Years in the Burgh

Attachment 198565Attachment 198561

This is the upstairs bath and half baths. Paul, if you're looking for a resource to match the tile in your vintage bath, check out the Retrorenovation website. There's a ton of information there--I found period appropriate tile for my powder room through the site.

The black and white tile on the walls is our exact same in our 2nd floor bath. Only difference is the soap holders over the sink are also black tile instead of chrome. Our floor though was pink, I tiled over it with a black and white octagon classic to match the walls. Spent about $150 when we moved on that bath and it has looked good since. Still want to remodel, I don't mind it but the shower area has cracks and if I start to take any off the wall would come off with.


The baby blue, I could live with that but don't love it. Its the ones that are pink and blue or some other odd combo that just need to go.