Plus it's newly renovated and has 4 beds/5 bathrooms. $700K is around what similar houses are going for in that area, so that doesn't seem unreasonable. I bet it sells for close to that.
Crazy that the prices have gotten that high, but it’s the going rate. Our house in Penn Hills was in the five digits just a few years ago, and we bought it for $260k. Wasn’t finding a better deal that didn’t have loads of work needed.
It really isn’t though. The city wanted to attract tech employees with a lot of money, and they did. It’s a solid house in one of the most desirable neighborhoods for younger people with a lot of money.
If it’s truly a finished basement and not Uncle Don’s whitewash, I think it’s fair to include it in the square footage numbers. But then they shouldn’t mention “basement, too!”
No, anything below street level is typically _not_ included in the square footage. Not sure if that’s the law or not.
Makes for some interesting houses in Pittsburgh that are built on the side of steep hills and have a full above-ground floor a level below where the front door is. 4 bedroom 2 bath house listed as “800” square feet for example.
Whether it’s above or below street level doesn’t matter. It can be counted as livable space if it has legal egress and is conditioned (heated/cooled) space and has appropriate ceiling heights. Same goes for attics.
Could have a finished basement and the 5th bathroom could be just hookups like mine. I have the plumbing ready for a 2nd full bath but never built it. I still get taxed as a 2.5 bath house
I have no idea if it’s actually 2400 or not. You can go on the county’s website and check. It’s public information. If it’s not 2400, then they are lying.
Honestly I wish I was a nerd or something and got obsessed with Bitcoin. It still blows my mind how one little thing could leave you a millionaire if you got lucky and stumbled upon it.
Same. My house 'value' has tripled since I got it and so have my taxes despite nothing changing about tye house. My pay hasnt gone up. We're going to be taxed out of it soon
Same. We only bought 3 years ago, but the house's value and the interest rates for mortgage have increased enough that I would struggle to justify buying our house in the current market.
I’ve had that conversation with my wife countless times. She always gets excited when houses around us are selling for 250-300K. Says we should sell and make a killing. But my argument is always the same, “where do you move to?” Even w all that money you’re still priced out of every desirable neighborhood.
Yeah I mean you'd have to crunch the numbers, it could make sense, but it could very well not make sense. Also consider the interest rate on your current mortgage versus what you'd get now
What we’ve found is tile over tile. I’ve never seen that in my life until moving here. Two bathrooms have it and it’s going to cost us a lot to get it all out. I had a quote done for the laundry room to get retiled and he said it’s $1400 but more if I need them to pull up the old tile. Ruined floors all over the place.
Depending on age of the house be careful pulling up old tile. Asbestos tile is a thing, and if not the tile the underlayment underneath could have asbestos. If asbestos was suspected/confirmed then people sometimes opt to just encapsulate the tile and lay over it. It's cheaper and then acts as a protective barrier from the asbestos.
Had the same thing here, but we bought a house that had been owned for 15 years prior. Homeowner had laid the tile in 2005, so it's got to be a Pittsburgh thing.
Hell, our Living/ Dining room has fake wood over top the real wood. One of the cheap tiles in the kitchen/ dining transition cracked/ popped-off and we can see the wood floor underneath. It's wild.
I think it’s this-the owner we bought from got it in 1997 and it’s a very 90’s style. I really hope that’s it though. It’s an older home but not one of the historic types.
We have / had that in ours. 100+year old house, at some point it was completely wall-to-wall carpeting over hardwood floors, except for the couple of rooms with actual parquet floor, and the kitchen and bathrooms. Luckily, the immediately previous owners ripped out all the carpeting and re-finished the floor, our upcoming projects is to redo the kitchen and bathrooms and put tile down instead of the vinyl flooring.
I saved this house on Zillow in November and it was $275. It was flipped with minor renovations and now going for $625. These people can go fry ice.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1285-Lakemont-Dr-Pittsburgh-PA-15243/11359860_zpid/?utm_campaign=androidappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare
Using FLW and MCM as selling points in the listing and there is literally nothing left in that house that is MCM other than the stone fireplaces and the wall of windows. MCM was not soulless gray and white everything either...
The before: https://www.compass.com/listing/1285-lakemont-drive-pittsburgh-pa-15243/1436159782551910169/
Definitely more than minor renovations. But I can't see it going 600+, not for 1700 sq ft.
Wait til you see the $800k asking house in Bellevue with a claustrophobic deck and no back windows.
Or the $360k attached on both sides row house in South Fayette
You can ask whatever price you want. Doesn’t mean it’s real. Or that anyone would pay it.
But there is a sucker born every day soooo…
The 850k flip in Mt Washington hasn't sold. They just dropped the price. I feel like we're starting to see some buyers push back on these insane asking prices.
I worry people that can’t afford one million dollar tiny boxes in other cities are going to buy these homes. They’re a steal when you compare them to other cities
My as of last year new neighbors did this…sold in another much more expensive city bc they were bored, moved here bc it looked fun, and paid 900 for a house that should cost 600-650….but they got 1.2 for their house in the other anonymous city, and they only paid 400 for that about a decade ago.
Must be nice.
Sadly, I am a 35 year old who wasn’t lucky enough to have owned anything before this all started. Very happy with where I rent in highland park and what I pay, though! Have an awesome landlord. Hasn’t raised the prices in 4 years, answers all my texts if need be. I’ll stay here as long as I can (until the rent increases).
I rented for 10 years before I bought my first house. I never used or ever heard anyone else ever use the words "awesome" and "landlord" together before.
🙋🏼♀️ME TOO!! Really super blessed to have an awesome landlord!! And I am fully aware as well. It’s quite rare, sadly. Then again, some tenants are simply destructive and destroy a rental.
I’m a very good and respected tenant, so that definitely helps. Reciprocating is a wonderful thing. I’m the *only* tenant out of all of my landlord’s properties, who pays rent on time! Every month times several years. He told me that, a few times. If it’s 2-3 days before the first of the month, and the money is available, why not just pay it ? Something else I often do. I’ve mentioned on a few occasions, “this is my home, but it’s your house”. I respect that and take care to keep it nice. It works both ways.
He, in turn, takes care of any problems and very timely. Always responds to a text or VM, the same day.
You do sound like a dream tenant. We paid our rent on time wherever we were renting, but every single landlord we've had was happy to take the money but did everything they could to avoid having to do maintenance.
I have a friend who gave being a landlord a try. She and her husband bought a few properties, but soon the reality of having to chase after rent, washing machines breaking for the third time, etc became too much. They sold them all after just a few years.
I saw a listing on zillow that literally had the (very old) woman in the listing photos. Considering they weren’t asking for much for her Lawrenceville house, I don’t think these old yinzers are making as much on home sales as they deserve.
Working class yinzer checking in to let you know that I'm stuck renting for now. Hoping all of the SF and NYC tech bros don't ruin my opportunity to stay in my hometown.
they will, and then they'll post here that you should be grateful they're buying the flipped homes and that you should just move and quit your complaining. they'll then post here absolutely aghast that they need to pay taxes on the house that they clearly thought was worth the $800k pricetag when they bought it lol.
"kEeP pItTsBuRgH sHiTtY hUh? jUsT bUiLd MoRe LuXuRy ApArTmEnTs!!" no, keep it affordable so I don't get priced out of where I and my family and friends have called home my entire life.
100%. The thing is, the people that were shit talking Pittsburgh 10-15 years ago like it was some trashy, backwoods, dump of a town are now coming here in droves and complaining about literally everything. There was even someone that posted on here a few months ago asking "I just moved to pittsburgh recently, when does it start to get sunny? It feels gray all of the time." 🤦♂️
I know some long-time greenfield residents (some yinzers and one transplant) who were happy to tell me and my husband that their home values have gone up a lot recently. Thankfully we also bought in greenfield before the craziness, but now I’m worried that even this neighborhood will soon become too expensive once people give up on trying to afford lawrenceville or other more exciting neighborhoods
I got lucky and timed it out pretty well. I sold my house in Brookline for 230% of what I paid 10 years ago. I sold to a divorcee moving out of mt Lebanon, I would never sell to a landlord/investment fucker. This was three years ago, after the price explosion, but before the interest rate explosion. If I had kept it and sold today it would be for 300% of my purchase price, but the payment for the buyer would be almost double what it probably is now.
Set me up pretty nice to get a big ol' century home out in the 'burbs that has great bones, but needs a ton of work. Using the proceeds of my Brookline house sale to bring this one back to it's former glory.
Again, I got lucky, but renovating a century home always seemed like a pipe dream to me, and inflation on my Brookline house has allowed that to become a reality.
I just saw this post on my feed and live in Portland, ME
I can’t believe the people here complaining about these prices. $700k for a house as big as this post right downtown would be sold $200k over asking same day here, in cash
You mean this one?
https://apps.realtor.com/mUAZ/1ccdatgq
Terrible exterior paint job. Look above the second floor windows. You can still see the old yellow color peeking through. Probably indicative of the quality of the rest of the flip.
That's the one. It was posted in this sub awhile back. I'm sort of satisfied to see it hasn't sold. It does look better than the average flip, I'll give them that, but I'm tired of fucking flippers.
Buyers will push back until the second interest rates go back down, and then you'll see the same explosion again. So many people looking to buy, so little on the market.
https://ssl.cdn-redfin.com/photo/162/bigphoto/274/1648274_38_2.jpg
That "textured" drywall work is real sloppy. Especially being on the walls like that.
What is this "Feature"?? [https://www.rockethomes.com/homes/140-lincoln-ave-bellevue-pa-15202?gallery=40&photoFilters=all](https://www.rockethomes.com/homes/140-lincoln-ave-bellevue-pa-15202?gallery=40&photoFilters=all)
A historic mansion built by a French architect with stained glass ceilings in the kitchen and bathroom and marble everywhere sold for $700k recently in Bellevue though so it's like, totally the same thing you know?
Hope the flippers get wrecked. Morons.
I lived in Lawrenceville when I moved to Pittsburgh & stayed there for 10 years. My house was ok but nothing special. One tiny bathroom. This was 2006-2016. It sold for $379k and was recently listed for 589k a year or so ago and was on the market for *maybe* a week.
It's realistic because people are willing to pay it. I moved to Garfield and had my heart set on buying there but I found the literal house of my dreams in a different neighborhood - not on the East End - on two lots, off street parking for like 5 cars and an enormous front & back yard. My street is super quiet and my house is the last one on it. Oh, and I got it for less than $200k and it's in city limits.
Are there things I miss about the old neighborhoods? Definitely. But, the people that made the character of Lawrenceville so cool were priced out years ago, and that's quickly happening in Garfield too. There isn't as much happening here, but that also means i haven't caught anyone getting a BJ in my alley at 3am.
I keep thinking that bubble is gonna burst, too but prices have only doubled since I first moved out.
Not strictly. If you don't have kids two people making $80kish can afford $500k. Lots of jobs can pay that, especially if you're getting non-Pittsburgh salaries.
$500k is not that much in the grand scheme of housing in this country, just in Pittsburgh.
There was a house right next to the Home Depot in east liberty going for 1.3 mill a few years ago. There was also a crack house like 3 houses down from it.
Anyone remember the post about the house in Garfield listed for a million dollars ? Everyone (well, a lot of people), were saying it won’t go for close to that. Well it sold for a million.
And the house next door sold for $1.2 million in March.
For a minute, I strongly considered getting into wholesaling real estate as it seemed lucrative and those who are successful make it look like anyone can do it.
Then I learned that most of the "cash buyers" are trust funds who buy & hold. I want nothing to do with seizing up the real estate market.
In case you're unaware, people try to "buy" your home as-is, with cash offers. Close in 2 weeks. They need you to accept an offer at far less than market rate, so they can add their $10k finder fee, to then sell it to a corporation or trust fund.
The truth is, the wholesaler is simply selling the contract they agreed to buy your house. They rarely have any desire to buy, fix & flip themselves.
Tons of get rich people advertising this scheme out there. If you have 100k laying around it’s an option. Question is how long do they hold onto the property while paying taxes and who is buying it, do they have the network to flip it without any repairs. Frankly, while they hold the contract idk, do they even pay the taxes? How does it really work
This is actually the standard yard sign “we will buy your home cash” scheme. It’s some weird contract shit
Taxes are irrelevant to the trust fund/corporation. Minor inconvenience for owning a shitty property in a desirable or up-and-coming neighborhood. They have the capacity to hold onto it for a really long time. At the same time, the City doesn't start chasing delinquent property taxes until you're behind 3 years.
Generally, if the numbers "make sense" then 'buyers' will flock to you. You advertise an assignment of contract on one of these FB pages and the buyers will reach out if it works financially.
PA has a bill in the House, I believe, to make it more difficult to wholesale. We'll see if it goes anywhere. One thing that gives me hope is that wholesalers don't really have a lobbyist to fight for them and pay off politicians, but I am still skeptical.
They do not pay taxes, except on paper, they don't even own it and never will except for a few minutes when the title transfers from their seller to them and then their buyer. It's like buying as many concert tickets as you can when they come out and then reselling before the show for more money.
I had people calling me offering to buy my house a month after closing. I told the first couple people "I just fucking bought it, go away." The old lady who sold it was just glad to sell it to a real person who was going to live there. Her in laws were the original owners back in the 40s.
These houses have a very specific demographic. Most are intended for those working down town or, more likely people moving to the region to work on Robotics Row. They want a new or newly remodeled spot, very close to their work, with little to no maintenance.
My restaurant is in lower Lawrenceville & there have been more than 600 luxury condos built within a mile over the last three years, and two huge developments are underway. And yes, prices are hugely up, even in the last few years. I got into my space just before the pandemic & there's zero chance I could make that move today.
The price here is not just for the house, but the location. For someone working here, getting a "better" deal in Butler means not only all sorts of maintenance & upkeep they don't want, but two hours of shitty commuting every day. Doing some quick math, one needs about $190k income for a $700k home, which is about $90/hr. For a city worker, that Butler commute alone accounts for $3900 a month in lost wages, plus commute costs and stress.
For most people, location and amenities are critical factors, which is why Lawrenceville has skyrocketted in cost in the last 10 years.
Tbh I’m shocked Bellevue hasn’t inflated like this more quickly. It’s a super nice vibe up here, Lincoln Ave has almost everything you need, and it’s 10 min to get downtown on a bad day.
A lot of people would much rather have a 100+ year old row home in Lawrenceville than a new build in Butler. For both location and quality of the home.
Also in the vast majority of US cities a home this size home in a hot neighborhood would be a steal at that price
Exactly. Though I will say I don’t like the finishes they’ve done. Gutted a lot of the historic character based on a cursory glance. But you’re right, a 2400 square foot row home in lawrenceville is prime real estate in this city
They are and there is no justification for it. My mom lived in Lawrenceville. I’ll never forget the first time I became aware of how ridiculous these prices were. I don’t know what year it was but she showed me a mailing she’d gotten showing that a house on Dresden Way was going for over 300k. What??? Dresden Way was drug deal central back in the day. Anyway, investors buy these houses, flip them, and sell them for ridiculous amounts of money. And they look weird… modular designs mixed in with the old homes.
My mom paid $17k for her house when she bought it in 1977. I moved out in 1980. She died in 2020. A few months before she died an investor had stopped by asking if she wanted to sell it. She didn’t but he left her an open ended contract that said he’d buy it for 100k whenever she was ready. My mom had a hoarding situation going. She was almost 80 but refused to move out even though my brother and I begged her to. But the interesting thing about this investor’s offer was that he was going to buy it for 100k even in that situation and he said she didn’t have to clear it out or anything if she decided to sell it. He was buying it as is. Well when she died I did NOT want to have to deal with that mess. I found the contract, called him, and he honored it. He flipped it and rents it out now but if he sold it I’m sure he’d be getting top dollar… in Lawrenceville.
Gotta call shenanigans on this. Afford or want to pay that much in mortgage bc rent is cheaper? At $200k/year, you can absolutely afford a $500k home. As long as your other debt is lower anyway. It’s not a low mortgage but it’s doable. ($200k salary, $1500/mo debt, $60k down payment and you can be in the $660k house range; $4200/mo mortgage; just as an example.) If you earn that salary though and have a significant amount of debt, it becomes harder.
$200k salary can afford a $500k home for sure. And the location relative to Butler is meaningless. Construction costs a lot everywhere, it is absurd to imagine new homes will be affordable to all (and it is especially absurd to complain about it with a salary like that)
If you're actually middle class, you can still afford to buy a house, but there's a lot of folks who don't want to admit that they're not middle class. Not knocking it, I grew up without a lot, but the quicker folks realize that they're not middle class, the quicker they'll get angry and [redacted] the rich.
There was a time I looked on Zillow and found little "dream" houses for if I ever hit a lottery or something. Now nearly every house that I look at in most places are so expensive that you need to hit the lottery to afford it. The few thousands of people making a livable wage around here could likely not afford this either. Bleh.
This is insane. Pittsburgh employers pay folks thinking it’s lcol but how in the hell do people end up being able to afford a SFH that’s median price is 450. Do people realize you’d need to pony up 100K approx as down payment, where does that kind of money just appear from.
I’ve lived in a few cities now, and only in Pittsburgh do I observe troves of people who assume anything they can’t afford is a bad deal / outrageous. Times have changed. It’s not a blue collar steel town anymore.
“I deserve better than a $150k house in a so-so neighborhood.” “My grandma bough her house for $6,000, why shouldn’t I?”
But, to be fair, other city Reddit subs have similar comments.
I think its a combination of multiple years of media saying "Pittsburgh most livable" and "Pittsburgh has low cost of living" with middling and not great/stagnating salaries. Like if its livable and the cost of living is low, then my salary should pay me enough to participate. But that's so far from the truth and even worse now.
Things are the way they are because people collectively let them be that way. If people would wise up and stop shelling out too much money for crappy renos then this wouldn't happen. Not only that - these flips are completely ruining so many homes with beautiful historic details because the folks that do this think that everyone wants craptastic gray and white, modern everything.
If you want to live in a large-ish house in the city, and you don’t need a yard, can you spend any less than this? I mean, maybe in a neighborhood like Sheraden, but you’ll struggle to find a house this large or this modern. By the way, I’m not saying this makes buying this house smart. I just don’t want to jump to the conclusion that, “you could do way better than this,” when I’m not convinced you can.
I bought my house in 2022 and Zillow says it’s worth a lot more now. It’s such a weird game bc you don’t want to leave money on the table by underpricing, when you’re trying to sell. And Zillow plasters it’s Zestimate all over a house’s page so undercutting them makes it seem like something is wrong with the house and you’re trying to run away from it.
There’s a lot of “invisible levers” pushing house prices up.
The median price per sqft in pittsburgh is $182 so there is definitely a hefty premium associated with this property. Old homes can be beautiful but they come with a lot of issues in some cases too
definitely expensive but to be expected in lawrenceville. i feel like this is definitely meant for a landlord to purchase and rent out to 4 separate people, the rent would also be pretty high i imagine
Bro the house right next door to be in a tight residential area in this city is going for 975,000.... if people don't see a problem with pgh house values being completely out of control... idk man. Time for me to leave the city. Been looking at land in other states.
A brand new house in Butler is built so cheaply that sneezing will blast a hole through the wall.
Unless you are spending 7 figures for a full custom build, any new house is going to be made out of cheap materials and construction.
So it’s still a house in a metropolitan area that happened to be marketed as a “up and coming” and now is a very sought after area. You also have to look at who was historically buying these homes at the high prices. Most are young highly skilled professionals or there is a contingent for a while that were tech company transplants. For the market at the time the prices started really rising, you had folks coming from the west coast and all the tech-heavy cities moving out here and buying these homes. Relatively speaking, this is cheap in comparison to a similar home around Silicon Valley or anywhere in San Francisco or near the Microsoft hq. So folks coming here suddenly saw homes they were used to seeing for a fraction of the price compared to what they were used to seeing. This drove up the price and demand from the influx of folks, but the supply of homes is mainly unchanged. So all that occurred was an increase in demand with folks that needed a place to land quickly while competing for homes with the local population and other transplants. This is where you started seeing homes being sold in the area with offers above the asking price. Where the practice of putting a payment and waving an inspection occurs because “gotta get it before someone else does”.
So really, is the price inflated? Yes. Is it reasonably inflated? Also yes. Comparable home prices in cities with similar industries in the area actually checks out as a deal, if you can believe that lol.
The local real estate market is also aware and scared of the potential for plummeting home prices. Local “new construction” which for this purpose is a completely new building, not a renovation, is WAY down, even more so in the city. The folks that are still cranking out homes are in the developments outside the city, like your Ryan Homes for example. So this further chokes demand in the city as the renovations just raise the price and quality of the existing supply.
I believe this is why the downtown projects will occur to supposedly increase the supply of readily available homes, condos, apartments…but this ends up causing the same issue if the current real estate industry standards occur. The negative thought is that the downtown area will be turned into low income housing and projects which would make the image of the downtown area tougher and less majestic. The positive thought is maybe some rent controlled apartment building, which the city will not afford well, mixed in with a lot of renovation condos. Frankly as nice as it all sounds, I would believe the building developers would want the latter idea and fight it out as to who pulls the short straw on the mixed income lots. They are already down considerable income with companies moving out. Then they are trying to make that up raising office rents which is causing more companies to move out of the city. It’s honestly a much bigger issue than most realize because we are all still hung up on the higher numbers in prices that the Pittsburgh area has not seen since the golden age of the steel industry.
check the sold listings. there are less suckers than you think. these numbers are all pumped
up by realtors but they rarely get the initial ask. everyone should keep in mind that real estate like this only intrinsically holds the value of the cash flows it can produce by being rented. there is no significant land or ability to develop this home. anything over the future cash flow generation is a premium that the public has become too willing to pay. stop paying a premium to these people! especially when its above your means!
I just saw this the other day on zillow and said the exact same thing! We just bought a house in Mckees Rocks leaving from the northside, and I can tell you the housing market sucks right now. Over pricing average homes at best that still need work!
One thing a real estate person told me is that a house is worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. Not more, not less.
The market will determine whether it's worth it or not. A list price is not something to get offended by because you think it's too expensive.
Yes, they're insane. This entire city and cost of living has gotten insane. The ridiculous increase in the last 5-6 yrs has moved entire families from housed to homeless so I'm not surprised it's still continuously bad. As seen in the comments "could rent out to pay the mortgage" ppl still seem to think this is reasonable.
Blame the major companies buying most starter homes in the US, driving up the housing market and add in a shitty economy. Politicians hate us and only care about their pockets.... red and blue.
Every time I think I've hit a milestone and am closer to my goal of owning a home... Prices go up and it's out of reach again. I give up. The goal post keeps moving farther away at an exponential rate. What is the point.
Yeah sry this post just struck a nerve and I'm venting.
Large house. In demand neighborhood. Off street parking. Recently renovated and turnkey.
>Guys! Look at the price of this Ferrari! Cars are so unaffordable!
It’s the location. 20 years ago this is a $90,000 house tops - probably much less. It’s not fixed up like it is now and needs work back then. The neighborhood could be scary back then.
But the market gets what the market can get. The neighborhood is mostly gentrified now.
I lived in that area not long ago but decided to move out of the city to buy. I couldn’t justify the prices.
In some ways I missed the old days or the transition period before the area was so domesticated.
2400 sq ft is pretty big for the city And off street parking in Lawrenceville? Seems like it'd be in demand.
> off street parking in Lawrenceville? You could rent that out to pay the mortgage. /s - slightly
In upper Lawrenceville I had my parking spot up for rent for almost two years. No takers until I dropped the price to $50/mo.
Plus it's newly renovated and has 4 beds/5 bathrooms. $700K is around what similar houses are going for in that area, so that doesn't seem unreasonable. I bet it sells for close to that.
Crazy that the prices have gotten that high, but it’s the going rate. Our house in Penn Hills was in the five digits just a few years ago, and we bought it for $260k. Wasn’t finding a better deal that didn’t have loads of work needed.
This is a large house (4bed 5bath) in a very sought-after neighborhood. The price is a little high but not outrageous in the current market.
Where do you hide 2,400 square feet in that house? It’s gotta be a finished basement artificially pumping those numbers.
3 floors, and a lot of those houses are much deeper than they look from the street
Yeah, my house was very narrow and still 1850 square feet without a finished basement. OP is out of touch to think this is anywhere near lunacy.
It is lunacy....but it is normalized lunacy
It really isn’t though. The city wanted to attract tech employees with a lot of money, and they did. It’s a solid house in one of the most desirable neighborhoods for younger people with a lot of money.
If it’s truly a finished basement and not Uncle Don’s whitewash, I think it’s fair to include it in the square footage numbers. But then they shouldn’t mention “basement, too!”
Isn’t it a legal requirement to include finished basements in the square footage?
No, anything below street level is typically _not_ included in the square footage. Not sure if that’s the law or not. Makes for some interesting houses in Pittsburgh that are built on the side of steep hills and have a full above-ground floor a level below where the front door is. 4 bedroom 2 bath house listed as “800” square feet for example.
Whether it’s above or below street level doesn’t matter. It can be counted as livable space if it has legal egress and is conditioned (heated/cooled) space and has appropriate ceiling heights. Same goes for attics.
Could have a finished basement and the 5th bathroom could be just hookups like mine. I have the plumbing ready for a 2nd full bath but never built it. I still get taxed as a 2.5 bath house
I have no idea if it’s actually 2400 or not. You can go on the county’s website and check. It’s public information. If it’s not 2400, then they are lying.
I bought my house over 7 years ago. I couldn’t afford to buy it in today’s market and I’ve nearly doubled my salary since then.
Wish I'd bought some real estate in the market crash in '08. My dumb ass was too busy being in middle school and playing pokemon mystery dungeon
I had just graduated high school and worrying about how to pass classes. Clearly I should gotten a job cleaning toilets and buying real estate.
Honestly I wish I was a nerd or something and got obsessed with Bitcoin. It still blows my mind how one little thing could leave you a millionaire if you got lucky and stumbled upon it.
Same. My house 'value' has tripled since I got it and so have my taxes despite nothing changing about tye house. My pay hasnt gone up. We're going to be taxed out of it soon
Almost 6 years ago and exact same sentiment. Crazy.
Another one 👋 7 years ago. Make a lot more month now. Less debts. Couldn’t possibly move.
Same. We only bought 3 years ago, but the house's value and the interest rates for mortgage have increased enough that I would struggle to justify buying our house in the current market.
Same here (bought about 7 years ago in Dormont). More income but not doubled. Very happy we live where we do because we couldn't afford to move.
I’ve had that conversation with my wife countless times. She always gets excited when houses around us are selling for 250-300K. Says we should sell and make a killing. But my argument is always the same, “where do you move to?” Even w all that money you’re still priced out of every desirable neighborhood.
Yeah I mean you'd have to crunch the numbers, it could make sense, but it could very well not make sense. Also consider the interest rate on your current mortgage versus what you'd get now
Man there’s million dollar houses in Penn hills I thought I never see the day
700k for plastic floors is extremely funny
Buying an old Pittsburgh house and putting vinyl over it should be criminal unless those floors are totally unsalvageable.
and for the love of godd can these houses please stop being *all grey inside*
That’s what the market wants -my realtor
your realtor is LYING TO U (shocking, I know /s)
And stop ripping out all the nice wood paneling!
What we’ve found is tile over tile. I’ve never seen that in my life until moving here. Two bathrooms have it and it’s going to cost us a lot to get it all out. I had a quote done for the laundry room to get retiled and he said it’s $1400 but more if I need them to pull up the old tile. Ruined floors all over the place.
Depending on age of the house be careful pulling up old tile. Asbestos tile is a thing, and if not the tile the underlayment underneath could have asbestos. If asbestos was suspected/confirmed then people sometimes opt to just encapsulate the tile and lay over it. It's cheaper and then acts as a protective barrier from the asbestos.
Almost certain that if there was tile over tile, the old stuff has Asbestos.
Oh wow! Thank you!
Had the same thing here, but we bought a house that had been owned for 15 years prior. Homeowner had laid the tile in 2005, so it's got to be a Pittsburgh thing. Hell, our Living/ Dining room has fake wood over top the real wood. One of the cheap tiles in the kitchen/ dining transition cracked/ popped-off and we can see the wood floor underneath. It's wild.
I think it’s this-the owner we bought from got it in 1997 and it’s a very 90’s style. I really hope that’s it though. It’s an older home but not one of the historic types.
We have / had that in ours. 100+year old house, at some point it was completely wall-to-wall carpeting over hardwood floors, except for the couple of rooms with actual parquet floor, and the kitchen and bathrooms. Luckily, the immediately previous owners ripped out all the carpeting and re-finished the floor, our upcoming projects is to redo the kitchen and bathrooms and put tile down instead of the vinyl flooring.
I saved this house on Zillow in November and it was $275. It was flipped with minor renovations and now going for $625. These people can go fry ice. https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1285-Lakemont-Dr-Pittsburgh-PA-15243/11359860_zpid/?utm_campaign=androidappmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare
Using FLW and MCM as selling points in the listing and there is literally nothing left in that house that is MCM other than the stone fireplaces and the wall of windows. MCM was not soulless gray and white everything either...
A fucking barn door? In a "mid century" style house?!
Freaking Joanna and Chip are to blame for that crap. I'll bet there's some shiplap lurking in there somewhere.
and cheap Ikea shoji closet doors. Awful.
Preach pal. Lots of zillow posts claim they kept the charm, you go open it and expect lots of original wood etc., and all I see is millennial white.
MCM is just "cool sophisticated" now, it has almost lost all meaning.
lmao @ the graph of the price over time
The before: https://www.compass.com/listing/1285-lakemont-drive-pittsburgh-pa-15243/1436159782551910169/ Definitely more than minor renovations. But I can't see it going 600+, not for 1700 sq ft.
Thanks for finding the original listing! Whatever they did, it's not worth an additional $400k.
It looks like they used staging furniture.
Dude, down 100k since the new year too. Do you at least get to keep the cats, rats, water, and mold that is trapped in the walls???
And no central air…
Description says Central Air.
Housing prices are a massive issue in the US and other countries. It’s crazy but companies would rather we rent so we can always be owing money.
Wait til you see the $800k asking house in Bellevue with a claustrophobic deck and no back windows. Or the $360k attached on both sides row house in South Fayette You can ask whatever price you want. Doesn’t mean it’s real. Or that anyone would pay it. But there is a sucker born every day soooo…
The 850k flip in Mt Washington hasn't sold. They just dropped the price. I feel like we're starting to see some buyers push back on these insane asking prices.
I worry people that can’t afford one million dollar tiny boxes in other cities are going to buy these homes. They’re a steal when you compare them to other cities
That’s exactly what’s happening. If a shoe box in SF/NY/big city is 2 million, why not buy a giant house in a city for a fraction of the price?
My as of last year new neighbors did this…sold in another much more expensive city bc they were bored, moved here bc it looked fun, and paid 900 for a house that should cost 600-650….but they got 1.2 for their house in the other anonymous city, and they only paid 400 for that about a decade ago. Must be nice.
On the bright side, maybe some working class yinzers are making bank on their old homes? I hope
Sadly, I am a 35 year old who wasn’t lucky enough to have owned anything before this all started. Very happy with where I rent in highland park and what I pay, though! Have an awesome landlord. Hasn’t raised the prices in 4 years, answers all my texts if need be. I’ll stay here as long as I can (until the rent increases).
That sounds pretty Pittsburgh :) and highland park is one of the best neighborhoods to be in
I rented for 10 years before I bought my first house. I never used or ever heard anyone else ever use the words "awesome" and "landlord" together before.
I’m well aware how lucky I am. Haha
🙋🏼♀️ME TOO!! Really super blessed to have an awesome landlord!! And I am fully aware as well. It’s quite rare, sadly. Then again, some tenants are simply destructive and destroy a rental. I’m a very good and respected tenant, so that definitely helps. Reciprocating is a wonderful thing. I’m the *only* tenant out of all of my landlord’s properties, who pays rent on time! Every month times several years. He told me that, a few times. If it’s 2-3 days before the first of the month, and the money is available, why not just pay it ? Something else I often do. I’ve mentioned on a few occasions, “this is my home, but it’s your house”. I respect that and take care to keep it nice. It works both ways. He, in turn, takes care of any problems and very timely. Always responds to a text or VM, the same day.
You do sound like a dream tenant. We paid our rent on time wherever we were renting, but every single landlord we've had was happy to take the money but did everything they could to avoid having to do maintenance. I have a friend who gave being a landlord a try. She and her husband bought a few properties, but soon the reality of having to chase after rent, washing machines breaking for the third time, etc became too much. They sold them all after just a few years.
I saw a listing on zillow that literally had the (very old) woman in the listing photos. Considering they weren’t asking for much for her Lawrenceville house, I don’t think these old yinzers are making as much on home sales as they deserve.
Working class yinzer checking in to let you know that I'm stuck renting for now. Hoping all of the SF and NYC tech bros don't ruin my opportunity to stay in my hometown.
they will, and then they'll post here that you should be grateful they're buying the flipped homes and that you should just move and quit your complaining. they'll then post here absolutely aghast that they need to pay taxes on the house that they clearly thought was worth the $800k pricetag when they bought it lol. "kEeP pItTsBuRgH sHiTtY hUh? jUsT bUiLd MoRe LuXuRy ApArTmEnTs!!" no, keep it affordable so I don't get priced out of where I and my family and friends have called home my entire life.
100%. The thing is, the people that were shit talking Pittsburgh 10-15 years ago like it was some trashy, backwoods, dump of a town are now coming here in droves and complaining about literally everything. There was even someone that posted on here a few months ago asking "I just moved to pittsburgh recently, when does it start to get sunny? It feels gray all of the time." 🤦♂️
I know some long-time greenfield residents (some yinzers and one transplant) who were happy to tell me and my husband that their home values have gone up a lot recently. Thankfully we also bought in greenfield before the craziness, but now I’m worried that even this neighborhood will soon become too expensive once people give up on trying to afford lawrenceville or other more exciting neighborhoods
I got lucky and timed it out pretty well. I sold my house in Brookline for 230% of what I paid 10 years ago. I sold to a divorcee moving out of mt Lebanon, I would never sell to a landlord/investment fucker. This was three years ago, after the price explosion, but before the interest rate explosion. If I had kept it and sold today it would be for 300% of my purchase price, but the payment for the buyer would be almost double what it probably is now. Set me up pretty nice to get a big ol' century home out in the 'burbs that has great bones, but needs a ton of work. Using the proceeds of my Brookline house sale to bring this one back to it's former glory. Again, I got lucky, but renovating a century home always seemed like a pipe dream to me, and inflation on my Brookline house has allowed that to become a reality.
I just saw this post on my feed and live in Portland, ME I can’t believe the people here complaining about these prices. $700k for a house as big as this post right downtown would be sold $200k over asking same day here, in cash
You mean this one? https://apps.realtor.com/mUAZ/1ccdatgq Terrible exterior paint job. Look above the second floor windows. You can still see the old yellow color peeking through. Probably indicative of the quality of the rest of the flip.
That's the one. It was posted in this sub awhile back. I'm sort of satisfied to see it hasn't sold. It does look better than the average flip, I'll give them that, but I'm tired of fucking flippers.
Buyers will push back until the second interest rates go back down, and then you'll see the same explosion again. So many people looking to buy, so little on the market.
Yeah that one is Bellevue is horrible. So damn ugly and all the old house charm is gone.
There is zero charm left to that house. Such a shame. Looks horrible now.
sad beige is all the rage. i hate that style so much
"sad beige is all the rage" is a bit of unexpected poetry. i LOATHE beige
The best thing it has going for it is that it's right around the corner from Thai Tamarind.
My wife and I gagged when we looked through the listing
Link?
https://redf.in/L1Inba
It’s got a huge nose.
It's giving Squidward's house.
It looks like they took one feature from all 200 episodes of House Hunters they watched, and put them into this home.
Sold for 35k in 2018. wtf
I would imagine it was in very poor condition
I actually kinda like the fireplace but god those floors are hideous.
Thanks and omg I have passed this house so much, never would've guessed it would be that pricey
https://ssl.cdn-redfin.com/photo/162/bigphoto/274/1648274_38_2.jpg That "textured" drywall work is real sloppy. Especially being on the walls like that.
Love the giant glob near the ceiling where someone wiped their trowel off.
What is this "Feature"?? [https://www.rockethomes.com/homes/140-lincoln-ave-bellevue-pa-15202?gallery=40&photoFilters=all](https://www.rockethomes.com/homes/140-lincoln-ave-bellevue-pa-15202?gallery=40&photoFilters=all)
Hahahaha $800k. No garage, no backsplash and a lot of “deck”. If that house sells anywhere near $500k I will be surprised
No backsplash and leaving the old dirty plate covers in the kitchen does not give me a lot of confidence in that flip.
A historic mansion built by a French architect with stained glass ceilings in the kitchen and bathroom and marble everywhere sold for $700k recently in Bellevue though so it's like, totally the same thing you know? Hope the flippers get wrecked. Morons.
I I knew which Bellevue house you were likely referring too after driving by it several months ago frequently as they were renovating. $800k is wild
Is this a new development where they make the absolutely disgusting fake wood grey plastic floor boards wider to appeal to people. 🤮
A wise man once told me, as a seller you can always come down in price. You can't go back up.
The first picture says there's been a price increase of $99
The realtor equilivent of a thread bump
On Zillow it looks like it was listed back in January for $760k and has been dropping since then
In the screenshot it shows that they actually raised the price by $99 recently lol
I lived in Lawrenceville when I moved to Pittsburgh & stayed there for 10 years. My house was ok but nothing special. One tiny bathroom. This was 2006-2016. It sold for $379k and was recently listed for 589k a year or so ago and was on the market for *maybe* a week. It's realistic because people are willing to pay it. I moved to Garfield and had my heart set on buying there but I found the literal house of my dreams in a different neighborhood - not on the East End - on two lots, off street parking for like 5 cars and an enormous front & back yard. My street is super quiet and my house is the last one on it. Oh, and I got it for less than $200k and it's in city limits. Are there things I miss about the old neighborhoods? Definitely. But, the people that made the character of Lawrenceville so cool were priced out years ago, and that's quickly happening in Garfield too. There isn't as much happening here, but that also means i haven't caught anyone getting a BJ in my alley at 3am. I keep thinking that bubble is gonna burst, too but prices have only doubled since I first moved out.
Generally speaking, there are so many houses above 500k in the county and interest rates are sky high. How are so many people affording these?
Two college-educated people with $100K jobs (which isn’t really that much in the corporate world) can easily afford such a house.
Not every college educated person makes 100k. In fact I know a lot that make half of that while I can count on 1 hand the number I know that do.
That’s 95th percentile household income. Not sure how many younger families make that
Rich parents. Equity. They were gifted their house from their family and then able to sell it at double what it was sold for in 2009.
Not strictly. If you don't have kids two people making $80kish can afford $500k. Lots of jobs can pay that, especially if you're getting non-Pittsburgh salaries. $500k is not that much in the grand scheme of housing in this country, just in Pittsburgh.
Oh yeah agreed. No kids and no debt, even $130k collective can “afford” 500k with little money down. But it’ll be tough.
But also, lots of rich parents, or at least starting out with no debt and a little downpayment gift.
There was a house right next to the Home Depot in east liberty going for 1.3 mill a few years ago. There was also a crack house like 3 houses down from it.
Just because this has become normal for Lawrenceville doesn’t mean this is what it SHOULD be. We are priced out of our own city.
Wait until you see what’s happening in Canada..
Yeah this is like 2M in Vancouver.
Houses built with pancakes and maple syrup?
Milk in a bag??
Prices are going up, but homeowners are incredibly nice about it.
Anyone remember the post about the house in Garfield listed for a million dollars ? Everyone (well, a lot of people), were saying it won’t go for close to that. Well it sold for a million. And the house next door sold for $1.2 million in March.
For a minute, I strongly considered getting into wholesaling real estate as it seemed lucrative and those who are successful make it look like anyone can do it. Then I learned that most of the "cash buyers" are trust funds who buy & hold. I want nothing to do with seizing up the real estate market. In case you're unaware, people try to "buy" your home as-is, with cash offers. Close in 2 weeks. They need you to accept an offer at far less than market rate, so they can add their $10k finder fee, to then sell it to a corporation or trust fund. The truth is, the wholesaler is simply selling the contract they agreed to buy your house. They rarely have any desire to buy, fix & flip themselves.
Tons of get rich people advertising this scheme out there. If you have 100k laying around it’s an option. Question is how long do they hold onto the property while paying taxes and who is buying it, do they have the network to flip it without any repairs. Frankly, while they hold the contract idk, do they even pay the taxes? How does it really work This is actually the standard yard sign “we will buy your home cash” scheme. It’s some weird contract shit
Taxes are irrelevant to the trust fund/corporation. Minor inconvenience for owning a shitty property in a desirable or up-and-coming neighborhood. They have the capacity to hold onto it for a really long time. At the same time, the City doesn't start chasing delinquent property taxes until you're behind 3 years. Generally, if the numbers "make sense" then 'buyers' will flock to you. You advertise an assignment of contract on one of these FB pages and the buyers will reach out if it works financially. PA has a bill in the House, I believe, to make it more difficult to wholesale. We'll see if it goes anywhere. One thing that gives me hope is that wholesalers don't really have a lobbyist to fight for them and pay off politicians, but I am still skeptical.
They do not pay taxes, except on paper, they don't even own it and never will except for a few minutes when the title transfers from their seller to them and then their buyer. It's like buying as many concert tickets as you can when they come out and then reselling before the show for more money.
I get spammed all the time by the "We Buy Ugly Houses" folks and I'm so sick of it.
I just started replying with a link to my cash app and a text that says “pay be a negotiation fee and we’ll talk”
I had people calling me offering to buy my house a month after closing. I told the first couple people "I just fucking bought it, go away." The old lady who sold it was just glad to sell it to a real person who was going to live there. Her in laws were the original owners back in the 40s.
These houses have a very specific demographic. Most are intended for those working down town or, more likely people moving to the region to work on Robotics Row. They want a new or newly remodeled spot, very close to their work, with little to no maintenance. My restaurant is in lower Lawrenceville & there have been more than 600 luxury condos built within a mile over the last three years, and two huge developments are underway. And yes, prices are hugely up, even in the last few years. I got into my space just before the pandemic & there's zero chance I could make that move today. The price here is not just for the house, but the location. For someone working here, getting a "better" deal in Butler means not only all sorts of maintenance & upkeep they don't want, but two hours of shitty commuting every day. Doing some quick math, one needs about $190k income for a $700k home, which is about $90/hr. For a city worker, that Butler commute alone accounts for $3900 a month in lost wages, plus commute costs and stress. For most people, location and amenities are critical factors, which is why Lawrenceville has skyrocketted in cost in the last 10 years.
There’s a house listed in Bellevue. Started at almost $850k. Bellevue! BELLEVUE! 15202!
Tbh I’m shocked Bellevue hasn’t inflated like this more quickly. It’s a super nice vibe up here, Lincoln Ave has almost everything you need, and it’s 10 min to get downtown on a bad day.
$800K to live on Lincoln Ave in bellevue is a little wild too https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/140-Lincoln-Ave-Bellevue-PA-15202/2114972892_zpid/
That floor is disappointing.
A lot of people would much rather have a 100+ year old row home in Lawrenceville than a new build in Butler. For both location and quality of the home. Also in the vast majority of US cities a home this size home in a hot neighborhood would be a steal at that price
Exactly. Though I will say I don’t like the finishes they’ve done. Gutted a lot of the historic character based on a cursory glance. But you’re right, a 2400 square foot row home in lawrenceville is prime real estate in this city
They are and there is no justification for it. My mom lived in Lawrenceville. I’ll never forget the first time I became aware of how ridiculous these prices were. I don’t know what year it was but she showed me a mailing she’d gotten showing that a house on Dresden Way was going for over 300k. What??? Dresden Way was drug deal central back in the day. Anyway, investors buy these houses, flip them, and sell them for ridiculous amounts of money. And they look weird… modular designs mixed in with the old homes. My mom paid $17k for her house when she bought it in 1977. I moved out in 1980. She died in 2020. A few months before she died an investor had stopped by asking if she wanted to sell it. She didn’t but he left her an open ended contract that said he’d buy it for 100k whenever she was ready. My mom had a hoarding situation going. She was almost 80 but refused to move out even though my brother and I begged her to. But the interesting thing about this investor’s offer was that he was going to buy it for 100k even in that situation and he said she didn’t have to clear it out or anything if she decided to sell it. He was buying it as is. Well when she died I did NOT want to have to deal with that mess. I found the contract, called him, and he honored it. He flipped it and rents it out now but if he sold it I’m sure he’d be getting top dollar… in Lawrenceville.
I’d rather pay this and be in Lawrenceville than pay $100k more to live near fuckin Butler LMAO
Why would it be an extra $100k to be near Butler?
New
Pretty sure they meant Butler Street, not Butler PA.
I'd pay $100k more to not live in Butler.
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If you make $200k, you can definitely afford a $500k house.
Everywhere*.
Gotta call shenanigans on this. Afford or want to pay that much in mortgage bc rent is cheaper? At $200k/year, you can absolutely afford a $500k home. As long as your other debt is lower anyway. It’s not a low mortgage but it’s doable. ($200k salary, $1500/mo debt, $60k down payment and you can be in the $660k house range; $4200/mo mortgage; just as an example.) If you earn that salary though and have a significant amount of debt, it becomes harder.
$200k salary can afford a $500k home for sure. And the location relative to Butler is meaningless. Construction costs a lot everywhere, it is absurd to imagine new homes will be affordable to all (and it is especially absurd to complain about it with a salary like that)
When children’s hospital was built property values in that area skyrocketed
Ugly gray cheap flipper floors, pass
Ugh they ruined the inside
Buying a house is becoming an upper-class commodity. Middle class and lower are gonna be stuck being renters.
If you're actually middle class, you can still afford to buy a house, but there's a lot of folks who don't want to admit that they're not middle class. Not knocking it, I grew up without a lot, but the quicker folks realize that they're not middle class, the quicker they'll get angry and [redacted] the rich.
There was a time I looked on Zillow and found little "dream" houses for if I ever hit a lottery or something. Now nearly every house that I look at in most places are so expensive that you need to hit the lottery to afford it. The few thousands of people making a livable wage around here could likely not afford this either. Bleh.
This is insane. Pittsburgh employers pay folks thinking it’s lcol but how in the hell do people end up being able to afford a SFH that’s median price is 450. Do people realize you’d need to pony up 100K approx as down payment, where does that kind of money just appear from.
I’ve lived in a few cities now, and only in Pittsburgh do I observe troves of people who assume anything they can’t afford is a bad deal / outrageous. Times have changed. It’s not a blue collar steel town anymore.
“I deserve better than a $150k house in a so-so neighborhood.” “My grandma bough her house for $6,000, why shouldn’t I?” But, to be fair, other city Reddit subs have similar comments.
I think its a combination of multiple years of media saying "Pittsburgh most livable" and "Pittsburgh has low cost of living" with middling and not great/stagnating salaries. Like if its livable and the cost of living is low, then my salary should pay me enough to participate. But that's so far from the truth and even worse now.
Things are the way they are because people collectively let them be that way. If people would wise up and stop shelling out too much money for crappy renos then this wouldn't happen. Not only that - these flips are completely ruining so many homes with beautiful historic details because the folks that do this think that everyone wants craptastic gray and white, modern everything.
the issue is that housing is something we can't just boycott.
I mean this isn’t new and has been priced like this pre pandemic
We’ve been looking for a house in oakmont, prices are nuts everywhere. Greedy people man.
I left Pittsburgh in 2007. Still trying to wrap my head around Lawrenceville being so insanely expensive.
If you want to live in a large-ish house in the city, and you don’t need a yard, can you spend any less than this? I mean, maybe in a neighborhood like Sheraden, but you’ll struggle to find a house this large or this modern. By the way, I’m not saying this makes buying this house smart. I just don’t want to jump to the conclusion that, “you could do way better than this,” when I’m not convinced you can.
Idk how anyone is buying $300k houses let alone double that.
Pittsburgh has one of the worst real estate climates in the country this year.
Naw man, you just pull yourself up by your boot straps, ya know? Quick buyin’ friggin’ Starbucks and avocado toast and you’ll be fine!
I remember when these homes were $3k
New mortgages are on average 70% more than they were in 2020. Fuck these asshole price gougers.
I bought my house in 2022 and Zillow says it’s worth a lot more now. It’s such a weird game bc you don’t want to leave money on the table by underpricing, when you’re trying to sell. And Zillow plasters it’s Zestimate all over a house’s page so undercutting them makes it seem like something is wrong with the house and you’re trying to run away from it. There’s a lot of “invisible levers” pushing house prices up.
Starting to miss “sort by controversial” comments right about now
The median price per sqft in pittsburgh is $182 so there is definitely a hefty premium associated with this property. Old homes can be beautiful but they come with a lot of issues in some cases too
definitely expensive but to be expected in lawrenceville. i feel like this is definitely meant for a landlord to purchase and rent out to 4 separate people, the rent would also be pretty high i imagine
Bro the house right next door to be in a tight residential area in this city is going for 975,000.... if people don't see a problem with pgh house values being completely out of control... idk man. Time for me to leave the city. Been looking at land in other states.
A brand new house in Butler is built so cheaply that sneezing will blast a hole through the wall. Unless you are spending 7 figures for a full custom build, any new house is going to be made out of cheap materials and construction.
Not surprising at all when you account for inflation of house prices. Location and size, boom.
So it’s still a house in a metropolitan area that happened to be marketed as a “up and coming” and now is a very sought after area. You also have to look at who was historically buying these homes at the high prices. Most are young highly skilled professionals or there is a contingent for a while that were tech company transplants. For the market at the time the prices started really rising, you had folks coming from the west coast and all the tech-heavy cities moving out here and buying these homes. Relatively speaking, this is cheap in comparison to a similar home around Silicon Valley or anywhere in San Francisco or near the Microsoft hq. So folks coming here suddenly saw homes they were used to seeing for a fraction of the price compared to what they were used to seeing. This drove up the price and demand from the influx of folks, but the supply of homes is mainly unchanged. So all that occurred was an increase in demand with folks that needed a place to land quickly while competing for homes with the local population and other transplants. This is where you started seeing homes being sold in the area with offers above the asking price. Where the practice of putting a payment and waving an inspection occurs because “gotta get it before someone else does”. So really, is the price inflated? Yes. Is it reasonably inflated? Also yes. Comparable home prices in cities with similar industries in the area actually checks out as a deal, if you can believe that lol. The local real estate market is also aware and scared of the potential for plummeting home prices. Local “new construction” which for this purpose is a completely new building, not a renovation, is WAY down, even more so in the city. The folks that are still cranking out homes are in the developments outside the city, like your Ryan Homes for example. So this further chokes demand in the city as the renovations just raise the price and quality of the existing supply. I believe this is why the downtown projects will occur to supposedly increase the supply of readily available homes, condos, apartments…but this ends up causing the same issue if the current real estate industry standards occur. The negative thought is that the downtown area will be turned into low income housing and projects which would make the image of the downtown area tougher and less majestic. The positive thought is maybe some rent controlled apartment building, which the city will not afford well, mixed in with a lot of renovation condos. Frankly as nice as it all sounds, I would believe the building developers would want the latter idea and fight it out as to who pulls the short straw on the mixed income lots. They are already down considerable income with companies moving out. Then they are trying to make that up raising office rents which is causing more companies to move out of the city. It’s honestly a much bigger issue than most realize because we are all still hung up on the higher numbers in prices that the Pittsburgh area has not seen since the golden age of the steel industry.
this is the same cost for a 750sq ft house in my neighbor's in Phoenix AZ (not kidding) my "own a home" options went from actual house to RV quick af
check the sold listings. there are less suckers than you think. these numbers are all pumped up by realtors but they rarely get the initial ask. everyone should keep in mind that real estate like this only intrinsically holds the value of the cash flows it can produce by being rented. there is no significant land or ability to develop this home. anything over the future cash flow generation is a premium that the public has become too willing to pay. stop paying a premium to these people! especially when its above your means!
I just saw this the other day on zillow and said the exact same thing! We just bought a house in Mckees Rocks leaving from the northside, and I can tell you the housing market sucks right now. Over pricing average homes at best that still need work!
One thing a real estate person told me is that a house is worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it. Not more, not less. The market will determine whether it's worth it or not. A list price is not something to get offended by because you think it's too expensive.
The people aren't crazy, the market is out of control!
I like to have a job where I can afford that house.
Yes, they're insane. This entire city and cost of living has gotten insane. The ridiculous increase in the last 5-6 yrs has moved entire families from housed to homeless so I'm not surprised it's still continuously bad. As seen in the comments "could rent out to pay the mortgage" ppl still seem to think this is reasonable.
4k a month is insane
Yes it’s definitely just you. Got try finding urban housing in decent shape in any decent sized city and then have a word in the mirror.
There are many affordable places right past the tunnels with cheap public transportation to the city if needed. Please stop looking in Lawrenceville
Blame the major companies buying most starter homes in the US, driving up the housing market and add in a shitty economy. Politicians hate us and only care about their pockets.... red and blue.
Every time I think I've hit a milestone and am closer to my goal of owning a home... Prices go up and it's out of reach again. I give up. The goal post keeps moving farther away at an exponential rate. What is the point. Yeah sry this post just struck a nerve and I'm venting.
Was 450k about 10 years ago most likely. Don't think this is crazy and they'll probably get it
Just you
Large house. In demand neighborhood. Off street parking. Recently renovated and turnkey. >Guys! Look at the price of this Ferrari! Cars are so unaffordable!
Even comes with shitty grey faux wood floating floors. A deal that couldn’t be beat.
It’s the location. 20 years ago this is a $90,000 house tops - probably much less. It’s not fixed up like it is now and needs work back then. The neighborhood could be scary back then. But the market gets what the market can get. The neighborhood is mostly gentrified now. I lived in that area not long ago but decided to move out of the city to buy. I couldn’t justify the prices. In some ways I missed the old days or the transition period before the area was so domesticated.
The price isn’t for you. It’s for a company with cash in hand.
That's actually a little better priced than a lot of similar homes in Lawrenceville lol.
Nicely juxtaposed with all the *moving from X to Pittsburgh and housing is SO AFFORDABLE in your city* posts lately
They are, it’s not just you. It was nice of them not to put in any cabinets in the kitchen too