All Forum Posts by: Brendon W.

I'm sure this question has been asked 1000 times on this site at this point, but I'm wondering if anyone has some market specific insight for the Pittsburgh Area.

I'm trying to run some comps on a single family home and I'm not sure how much I should be adjusting for extra bedrooms and bathrooms. J. Scott uses 3% of the sale price for an extra bedroom but I'm sure this varies from market to market. 

Any rules of thumb to use for 2 bedrooms compared to 3 bedrooms...3 bedrooms compared to 4 bedrooms? 1 bath compared to 2...2 compared to 3, etc. ?

Also, one of the homes I was using as a comp was excellent (same style, general floor plan, age, sq. footage) but it had a pool in the backyard. I just threw something out there and subtracted $10K although I have no idea how much an inground pool would affect the price in Western PA where you get about 4 months a year to use it. Maybe I shouldn't have even used that home as a comp..

I appreciate any feedback.

Thanks! 

Haha I've become acutely aware of the tax rates in Western PA in general. I'm originally from Central, PA so it was a bit of a shock when I looked into it but I guess it could be worse (at least we're not in New Jersey). 

It's not so much being torn between cash flow and turnkey, but mostly the fact that I'm a police officer and there's certain areas where I don't want to be parking a police car overnight given recent events. For a primary residence, I'm perfectly content with just covering a chunk of my housing expense compared to what I've been paying in rent to help increase my savings rate. Secondly, I'm not handy at all so I'd prefer to start small on the rehab side, the original question of a SFH conversion was me just wondering what the possibilities were long term.

In your house hack, are you using a low down payment owner-occupied option? That's another concern of mine at this point, I don't want to wind up being stuck underwater on something if there is a serious downturn given the unprecedented situation we're in.  

Yep I actually lived in the Southpointe area for a few years so I'm familiar with both of those areas and have been focusing more on Canonsburg lately. Its always struck me as a traditional Pittsburgh area neighborhood where a lot of owners still take pride in these old style brick houses but there's a decent rental inventory that's a little more reasonably priced, plus I work in Washington County so it makes a little more sense for a primary residence. My only real concern is the effect of a shut down of the fracking industry would have on Washington County specifically. With the way the political landscape is shaping up, it seems to be a very real possibility.  

I figured it likely wouldn't be an option. I haven't actually spoken to anyone within the zoning offices but just from reading some of the archaic local ordinances it seems like many of the municipalities are pretty strict about retaining the aesthetics of the neighborhoods. On a side note, I learned during my research that you can get a permit to keep bee's in all zoning districts in Bethel Park, so maybe that can be a side hustle to build some capital :)

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 !

Avoid Matt or Alex Walker. Father and son used to own a company called "Three Rivers Decks and Porches" which has gone bankrupt within the last year, but I'm sure these two are out in the contracting space somewhere. Some serious issues with these guys, just google the company name and read for yourself. 

@Ryan Alexander okay thanks! I haven’t looked into them yet I’ll check the out.

Anyone have a recommendation for a lender in the Pittsburgh area? I'm looking to house hack my first property so an FHA loan is an option, but I'd also like to get some recommendations for portfolio lenders as well. I'm relatively new to the South Hills area so I'm not too familiar with the community banks.

Thanks!

I'd like to see some sort of Insights database for generalized estimations of material / labor costs. I know this varies from market to market and within market cycles, but just something somewhat reliable for a quick and dirty analysis. Maybe there's something in the forums or blogs I haven't found yet.