Allegheny City/Mexican War Streets/Allegheny Hospital Area

[Samantha N.]

Oh man. We spent the day in Pittsburgh touring neighborhoods. We are moving there for work, and so we are looking for something to owner-occupy while still living close to work and hopefully enjoying the neighborhood we are living in. 

We REALLY liked the neighborhood of Allegheny City/Mexican War Streets, as in the title. Especially bordering the east side of the Allegheny Commons park. 

My concern is that all the properties we saw walking around were either a) freshly rehabbed and look like they would be priced at a premium, as well as being SFH, OR b) literally, completely falling apart (windows busted, roofs half off, walls open to the outside) and would require a gut or even more hardcore rehab and rebuild to make habitable. We do not have experience either in construction nor in managing contractors. 

My question to anyone out there is: Do you think it is possible to find any kind of suitable property in this neighborhood that could either be a multi or be made into a multi, and NOT have to buy one of the cheap, falling-down, gonna-cost-300K-to-fix properties that seem to be the only non-retail ones on the market?

I hope that made sense. 

[Jeremy Lee]

Hi Samantha,

I'm glad you liked that area, there is going to be a lot of money that is going to be put into that area in the upcoming few years. 

The short answer and that one you don't want to hear is no. You won't easily find a property like that in that particular area. I'm not saying its not possible, but chances are the answer is no. You might get lucky with a tired landlord who has been maintaining the property for a while and circumstances now prevent them from owning the property, but such properties will not be on the MLS, no one is going to market them to you. You would need to seek and find such properties yourself. The problem is in such a desirable area, everyone wants to own a nice property that needs paint and carpet to make a couple extra bucks, this drives up prices hence the ability for the economy to support those who can gut and rehab a place.

If I were looking to live rent free, I would run the numbers on the rent and determine how much you can afford in monthly payments, this is your cashflow. From there, depending on how many expenses you are willing to pay, this dictates your mortgage payment and hence the price of a multi-family that you can afford. It doesn't matter how much it costs total, aslong as the numbers work out for you. This will probably limit the neighborhoods you can look at and help you narrow down where you can live. Run these numbers for retail or slightly below retail price, then search for properties that meet your criteria. Check zillow to see if there are properties that recently sold in that area for true price estimates of how much people are paying, not properties that are still for sale.

The longer you wait, the better chance you can get something for below market value, but you need to weigh how important it is to you to live there and the timeframe you can work with moving and relocation.

Good Luck!