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DesertedPenguin t1_j0i40d3 wrote

I hate when this information is shared without context.

The reason homes are affordable in Pittsburgh is because the housing stock is woefully out of date.

Almost any house you buy at $150,000 or lower needs substantial work, especially with heating and cooling. Central air is the standard these days, yet there are countless properties still using radiator or electric heat. Not to mention any needs for plumbing upgrades or new wiring.

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[deleted] t1_j0ilrps wrote

[deleted]

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dementedturnip26 t1_j0iu9iy wrote

Solid, yes…but how much work will it need? There are also genuine concerns about the neighborhood you’re in, and in general houses in neighborhoods that would generally be considered less desirable need even more workZ

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dehehn t1_j0m2soq wrote

I found a nicish house in a nicish neighborhood for around $150. (I've never worried about crime here.) Didn't really need much work. Has central air. I'd say I just got lucky but when we were shopping around I saw a lot of places in my price range that were similar. Most got snapped up before I could even bid but they're out there.

2020 majorly spiked prices because interest rates were so low. Things are cooling off again with interest rate hikes. Just go on Zillow and look around. There's some nice stuff out there.

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tonyzak36 t1_j0j7504 wrote

Came here to say this and glad it was said. Most of these houses were built for WW2 steel mill workers. Houses under 200k are going to need so serious work.

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HugeLongnStron t1_j0kwz8g wrote

We bought a house in the city for 160k. Love the neighborhood. House is in very good condition. No substantial work needed that we weren't aware of which was a new roof (roof was about 22 years old. No leaking but needed replaced). We have working central A/C and heat.

After reading this post it made me very fortunate.

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McJumpington t1_j0j9grc wrote

The amount of god damn radiators drives me up a wall.

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gimmedemplants t1_j0jg8yv wrote

Radiators are superior to forced air imo. I grew up in a house with radiators and now we have forced air. I so wish our house had radiators!

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cthulhu_on_my_lawn t1_j0lanqh wrote

You'll wish that until you see your electric bill.

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gimmedemplants t1_j0le1os wrote

The cost is about the same (we have a similar sized house and live a mile from them, so we’ve compared utilities). But their radiator-heated house isn’t as dry as ours (and we even have a humidifier system), and also their house heats much more evenly than ours. They’re also quieter in my experience. And as someone who keeps houseplants, I’ll say that plants love radiators!

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InfraredDiarrhea t1_j0kz11o wrote

I love my radiators. The air doesn’t get so dry, its quiet while its running, my plants love being on top of them, and i can give them a big warm hug when its cold.

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imhoopjones t1_j0jebcf wrote

Maybe where you are looking. I just got a house for well under 100k that needs less than 8k of work.

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dementedturnip26 t1_j0jjzy4 wrote

What neighborhood? Wilkinsburg?

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imhoopjones t1_j0jm161 wrote

Mckees rocks

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1ll1l1ll1l1l1l1l1ll1 t1_j0kxhgy wrote

Yes. There are tons of hidden and not so hidden costs to living here. See the other thread asking why their natural gas bill is $200 and half the responders saying "that's not so bad." Or the countless threads about new homeowners getting ass blasted in property taxes when their houses are reassessed. Or the lack of real grocer competition driving up food prices. Or the high gasoline taxes. Or the water and air quality potentially causing money draining health issues.

But yeah, house prices.

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