Where is the strongest rental market in Pittsburgh?

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Hi @Juan Rango are you looking to house hack where you live and buy an out of state investment in Pittsburgh? Or are you looking to move to Pittsburgh?In any event Pittsburgh has a little bit of everything. There are areas with strong appreciation potential centered around the tech industry growth and good school districts. There are areas with a bit of both cash flow and appreciation that are usually close to good transportation lines and that provide good access to the city. And then there are areas that people invest mostly for cash flow that might need a little bit more attention on the property management front.

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@Juan Rango, If you are looking for well priced places in Pittsburgh, Dormont may be a good option. For whatever reason Dormont and Mt. Lebanon both "South Hills" neighborhoods, are not getting the same building and rent price hike frenzy that Shadyside, Strip District, Shadyside, Lawrenceville, East Liberty are getting. But for my money, this is the area that I would look in. I think you can still find quite a bit of value in the "Regent Square" area. It is going through an interesting shift, if you don't have kids you will find Wilkinsburg has good value propositions, but stay WEST of Penwood BLVD and South of Penn Ave. Here I think you should still be able to buy at around $45-50k per unit and the rents are going for about $650 for a 1 bedroom.

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@Megan Clancy that's spot on! The biggest thing I like about the South Hills is the T (light rail system), but if you work in Oakland the T doesn't go there. If you have a job downtown it's pretty easy though.

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I love Pittsburgh, but as most locals know, traffic is a nightmare anywhere near the city. There's a joke around here that no one ever crosses the rivers (I. E. I grew up in the South hills, so I've never met someone from across the river in the north hills..) but it's true because the city is so tiny and congested compared to the metro area it's too much hassle to go through. My advice is you want to live on the same side of the river where you work, and ideally be able to avoid the parkway in your commute (I-376 east and west, I-279 north) unless you have a job where you'll be working off-hours and can avoid commuting during rush hour For example, distance-wise, I live about 2-3 miles from Oakland (I'm right across the river in the South Hills), but travel time can be easily an hour with traffic. I wouldn't recommend living anywhere in the South hills and working in Oakland (which is why Shadyside and Squirrel Hill are so pricey, much easier access to the downtown areas). Point Breeze is right next to those neighborhoods but at a much lower price point. Greenfield, as mentioned is about the same access but significantly more affordable as well. Good luck!

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Greenfield is very very close to Oakland. I wish i had invested in Greenfield earlier. Now, for our strategy (BRRR), we can't really afford it. You can really even walk to Oakland from Greenfield on a nice day.

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@Juan Maldonado makes a good point. I live in Dormont now and it's a great walkable area with good access to public transportation. I've also lived in Reagent Square and there you would find a pretty easy commute to Oakland. Squirrel Hill and Shadyside are up there in price, as is a lot of that area. Greenfield and Point Breeze may be two places that you could look that are close to Oakland, but not as expensive as the others.

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Thanks Megan Clancy !

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To clarify the "stay on your side of the river" thing, Pittsburgh has a ton of tunnels and bridges which are the only access points to the city from about 70% of the perimeter, that bottlenecking is what generates a lot of the traffic. Because the city is located where 2 rivers meet, there's very limited access and little room for expansion (the Oakland neighborhood is considered city). Other cities may have similar problems, but this is the only "big" city I've lived in so it's the only thing I have to compare to

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@Anthony Angotti Promotion of a group is not permitted in the public forums nor is the self promotion of you that organizes the group. Nor is suggesting that people connect to others specifically on here. Keep that to private messages please. Thanks.

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Thanks @Karen S. ! I look forward to exploring the city. I stayed in Oakland during my interview and drove around the city. It looks like there is a lot of redevelopment going on.