Pittsburgh Area Multifamily Zoning

[Brendon W.]

I've been trying to find an area to purchase a home as a primary residence with the goal of increasing my savings rate. My target area is the South Hills / Northern Washington County area. As a wanna-be investor with no experience, ideally I'd like to find a relatively turn-key duplex that I could leverage an FHA / low down payment conventional loan on. I've been analyzing the small multifamily properties on the market within the last few months, but I haven't found anything suitable so far. I've also been considering the option of buying a single-family home that has potential to be converted into a duplex, however, the zoning laws vary township by township regarding leniency towards multifamily zoning. Some of the areas most conducive to this type of thing naturally seem to be the areas with exorbitant tax rates (Brentwood, Carnegie, Dormont, etc.) and being as that I would only be collecting rent from one Unit, a $500/month tax bill might make it more beneficial to just try and find a small single family further from the city in a nicer area that can't be converted. Renting out rooms isn't really an option for me either.

I have a pretty decent paying job, but I've been renting in Upper $aint. Clair like an idiot for the last 4-5 years before I caught the RE bug and now I'm just trying to figure out how to tackle my housing expense but this is the issue I've been stuck on. Anyone have any insight or knowledge as far as zoning in the area? 

Thanks !

[Anthony Angotti]

Originally posted by @Brendon W.:

I've been trying to find an area to purchase a home as a primary residence with the goal of increasing my savings rate. My target area is the South Hills / Northern Washington County area. As a wanna-be investor with no experience, ideally I'd like to find a relatively turn-key duplex that I could leverage an FHA / low down payment conventional loan on. I've been analyzing the small multifamily properties on the market within the last few months, but I haven't found anything suitable so far. I've also been considering the option of buying a single-family home that has potential to be converted into a duplex, however, the zoning laws vary township by township regarding leniency towards multifamily zoning. Some of the areas most conducive to this type of thing naturally seem to be the areas with exorbitant tax rates (Brentwood, Carnegie, Dormont, etc.) and being as that I would only be collecting rent from one Unit, a $500/month tax bill might make it more beneficial to just try and find a small single family further from the city in a nicer area that can't be converted. Renting out rooms isn't really an option for me either.

I have a pretty decent paying job, but I've been renting in Upper $aint. Clair like an idiot for the last 4-5 years before I caught the RE bug and now I'm just trying to figure out how to tackle my housing expense but this is the issue I've been stuck on. Anyone have any insight or knowledge as far as zoning in the area? 

Thanks !

Trying to convert from a SFH to a duplex is a nightmare. Also, Dormont is actually pretty average tax rate wise across Allegheny county. . . .so it's just kind of a Western PA things (and PA as a whole) to have garbage tax rates.

Sounds to me like you are torn between high cash flow (which means buying in a C class area/or buying a beat up property) and buying something turnkey in a B class and up area. My advice would be to work that out first. Personally I have bought a lot of units in Dormont and although the taxes go up and the purchase price is high the area has been appreciating well rent wise and value wise, the tenant quality is good, and I've added so much to my networth over the years by being invested in a good/appreciating area. I still cash flow, but at this point as long as a building makes money after all expenses I'm not hung up on it being a home run cash flow wise. I'm really just looking for something that is most likely to grow my networth substantially, and after running the numbers a bunch of different ways that's been B class properties with a moderate amount of value add. 

I also still house hack in Dormont and really the house hack deals that I've done the numbers have worked out after we leave, but they aren't home runs cash flow wise, however the ROI is gigantic considering the low amount of cash needed to get in.