Moving to Pitt - Couple Questions (Dormont, Bellevue: rental car, rental, buyers)

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by mattolson

I see. I went by zip on Zillow and must have picked the wrong one. I'm going to add that house to the list. I guess it can't hurt to explore all options. The yard is nice for the dogs too.

(Still love the Liverpool St place)

If you are willing to live in Etna, there is no reason you shouldn't be checking out options like Brookline.


It's not hip by any standard, but houses sell quick as it is safe, quiet, and has a little more room than some of the places you are looking. Brookline Blvd has all the day to day options you need in a business district and the best tacos cart in town.

[eschaton]

You know, you can actually get a lot for your money these days in South Side provided you're okay with a house with no offstreet parking. Like this home has a lot of potential if it were restored properly.

Also, I don't think Brookline is the right place for you guys, but check out the woodwork.

[New Waver]

Originally Posted by PghYinzer

That is Etna, its the next town upriver from Millvale. So it is closer to Sharpsburg, not Lawrenceville. I am not sure if you can bike to Millvale from Etna or not.t I know there is plans for the trail to be extended, just not sure how far it goes at this point.

The only way to bike from Etna to Millvale is to bike up Parker Street then down Seavey Road. In typical Pittsburgh fashion that includes a major hill. I believe you can access it via High Street also, which is an even steeper hill. Neither are very bikeable.

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by eschaton

You know, you can actually get a lot for your money these days in South Side provided you're okay with a house with no offstreet parking. Like this home has a lot of potential if it were restored properly.

Also, I don't think Brookline is the right place for you guys, but check out the woodwork.

From the beginning of his posts, I never wanted to recommend Brookline as it is not the vibe they were hoping for. But if they are only here for two years, that is two years in an easy to live in neighborhood where housing is only going up in value, with room for dogs, is safe, and is mainly walkable to a solid business district. If they were staying put for longer I would say rent for a year and then decide where to live.

[mattolson]

Originally Posted by PghYinzer

From the beginning of his posts, I never wanted to recommend Brookline as it is not the vibe they were hoping for. But if they are only here for two years, that is two years in an easy to live in neighborhood where housing is only going up in value, with room for dogs, is safe, and is mainly walkable to a solid business district. If they were staying put for longer I would say rent for a year and then decide where to live.

I feel like it has to be a balance of going up in value and living convenience. Maybe it's just an upper northeast thing but why wouldn't home values continue to rise in Lawerenceville and those kind of areas? Where we live, just outside of Boston, the home value has gone up 9% in the last two years.

Maybe I'm struggling with understanding Pittsburgh real estate haha.

[Lost_In_Translation]

Originally Posted by mattolson

I feel like it has to be a balance of going up in value and living convenience. Maybe it's just an upper northeast thing but why wouldn't home values continue to rise in Lawerenceville and those kind of areas? Where we live, just outside of Boston, the home value has gone up 9% in the last two years.

Maybe I'm struggling with understanding Pittsburgh real estate haha.

Pittsburgh is made up of hot new trendy areas, old areas that were trendy and now out of favor and areas that never were trendy, but still solid.

Hot new trendy: Lawerenceville, housing could keep rising or start tonstagnate, depending on the trends of tech companies
Old trendy: North Side, Southside, Shady side, housing appreciated a lot back in the 90’s and ‘00’s and has started to stagnate in value or settle into mild appreciation
Never trendy but solid: Troy Hill, Mt Washington, Brookline, greenfield, each area has good attributes but aren’t rocketing up in value when compared with the trendy areas for the time they were trendy. Just good steady investments.

Having said all that, buy where you’ll have to cross the least rivers and you’ll be happiest. If your wife works north of the city, don’t buy south of the Monagahela or Ohio.

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by mattolson

I feel like it has to be a balance of going up in value and living convenience. Maybe it's just an upper northeast thing but why wouldn't home values continue to rise in Lawerenceville and those kind of areas? Where we live, just outside of Boston, the home value has gone up 9% in the last two years.

Maybe I'm struggling with understanding Pittsburgh real estate haha.

According to the bank appraisal for my refinance that was completed last month, my house appreciated 100% in 8 years in Brookline. Is that the standard for the area, no, but Zillow pegs Brookline at 18% over the past 12 months. The issue with Brookline is, it has to be the right house. The bigger older houses with character near the Blvd do much better than the smaller houses from the 2nd wave of growth in the neighborhood.


As for living convenience, there is tons to walk to in Brookline, but there is no sit down restaurants or bars you would want to go to, but everyday needs...bakeries, banks, liquor store, drug stores, etc are abundant.

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by Lost_In_Translation

Pittsburgh is made up of hot new trendy areas, old areas that were trendy and now out of favor and areas that never were trendy, but still solid.

Hot new trendy: Lawerenceville, housing could keep rising or start tonstagnate, depending on the trends of tech companies
Old trendy: North Side, Southside, Shady side, housing appreciated a lot back in the 90’s and ‘00’s and has started to stagnate in value or settle into mild appreciation
Never trendy but solid: Troy Hill, Mt Washington, Brookline, greenfield, each area has good attributes but aren’t rocketing up in value when compared with the trendy areas for the time they were trendy. Just good steady investments.

Having said all that, buy where you’ll have to cross the least rivers and you’ll be happiest. If your wife works north of the city, don’t buy south of the Monagahela or Ohio.

Agree with everything you said, but would like to point out that google estimates travel from Brookline to Ross Park Mall at 7 am to be anywhere from 22-45 mins, which is not horrible compared to most places. You really have one obstacle, the Liberty Tubes, and then it is smooth sailing.

[Goinback2011]

It will go fast:

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...3_M45048-03990

[tyovan4]

Originally Posted by PghYinzer

That is Etna, its the next town upriver from Millvale. So it is closer to Sharpsburg, not Lawrenceville. I am not sure if you can bike to Millvale from Etna or not. I know there is plans for the trail to be extended, just not sure how far it goes at this point.

Originally Posted by New Waver

The only way to bike from Etna to Millvale is to bike up Parker Street then down Seavey Road. In typical Pittsburgh fashion that includes a major hill. I believe you can access it via High Street also, which is an even steeper hill. Neither are very bikeable.

Wrong. You can bike along the river from Etna to Millvale.
Go between the Route 8/62nd St Bridge and the industrial park. Cross the railroad tracks. There is an access road that runs parallel to the tracks that eventually links up directly with the paved path in Millvale. It is flat, but it is not smooth. It will be over rocks. But it is possible, as I have done it. Would be much preferable to ride that way rather than up over Cherry City and down into Millvale.

Originally Posted by eschaton

That's Etna, not Millvale. Etna really isn't hip by any means yet, though it's arguably slowly on the rise as well now.

Prices are rising, but the business district is still vacant. One coffee shop went out of business, partly because they had stupid hours. Another coffee shop has recently opened in a different location.
There are two breweries in planning/development stages. One is under construction, it appears the other hasn't broken ground yet. Will be interesting to see the impact they have on the Borough. Though as fall approaches, I already begin to dread the Hell known as the ScareHouse and the crowds attracted by that annoying business.
The commute to Ross Park area would be very good from Etna - no rivers to cross, no need to deal with 28, and it would be a 'reverse commute' (she'd be heading outbound when most folks would be heading inbound).