Help! I'm moving to Pittsburgh!

[Bob Urbon]

So long story short, my wife and I along with our two boys (ages 10 and 7) are planning on moving to Pittsburgh. Who knew? Anyway, my sister will be following us out there and our intent is to find a 3-bedroom home initially to rent while we look for a suitable, smallish multifamily property—we are thinking a duplex… preferably something like a 3 bedroom by two-bedroom sort of situation.

We'd like to initially rent in or near the neighborhood we eventually purchase in, and we can't purchase until 2026 because we're going for an FHA loan and have heard about the rule where you can't get an FHA if you have lived in a self-owned property within the last three years… anyway its complicated and not important I think.

I am hoping some people familiar with the area could help point my family to the right neighborhood to help focus our search… and to let me know if I am nuts if I think I can do this well with a purchase budget of 350 to 450k. We are not opposed to purchasing a property that needs renovation but are not interested in a complete overhaul. If things go well, I would like to acquire additional properties in the area to expand what is currently a baby portfolio consisting of a single condo in Denver ☺.

Our neighborhood musts are:

• good walkability (we hate driving… and people hate when I drive… I think because I am blind)

Good schools for the kids.

• Proximity to green space and parks
• Low crime… I mean some crime, obviously… just not that much. 
• - It'd be nice to be near a decent Jujitsu academy... 
• Many thanks for any advice on this upcoming adventure of ours!

[Jeremy Taggart]

@Bob Urbon $350-$450k can get you into a pretty decent area here for a 2-4 unit. How many units will be dictated by how desirable the specific neighborhood is. With the multis it's a sliding scale of cash flow friendliness versus living situation so kind of have to figure out where you want to be within that. 

 If you want to focus on the top ranked public schools then outside the city limits is likely your best bet. Some walkable neighborhoods I like that also have good schools are Sewickley, Mt. Lebanon, and Aspinwall. Beaver and Zelienople also fit the but are a bit further from downtown Pittsburgh.

They do 5% down on owner occupied 2-4 units now as well which can sometimes work out better than FHA with it not having any upfront PMI cost and tends to have a lower monthly PMI payment as well. PMI can drop off once you reach 20% equity also where it doesn't with FHA loans.