Tasteful friends: a 1924 co-op 2-bedroom apartment in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania $450,000

Clear out the bric-a-brac and it is fine, w/some paint.

My only complaint is the blindingly-white bathrooms and no in-unit W/D.

And it’s in Pittsburgh.

[quote]HOA monthly fees are $943, which includes all utilities and property taxes.

Does not include property taxes which are $889 according to Realtor.com.

Shadyside is a great neighborhood name. Realtors must be seething.

Does it have a Pittsburgh toilet?

All of them witches!

I've only ever heard of co-ops in NYC, DC, Chicago and LA. I had no idea my father's hometown of Pittsburgh has them too.

Fear street

R2. $900 monthly?

If so, it sounds like Texas…but we don’t have a sales tax (but we pay in other ways).

What's the square footage? The room sizes aren't that great - but you can't tell that because of the fish-eye lens.

$989 HOA is a LOT for zero amenities. Property taxes are usually included in co-op HOA fees, but not in condo fees.

No parking either?

My ex used to live in Shadyside - it's a beautiful area but this is way overpriced.

If it includes property taxes its a good deal

There is little privacy. And it's the Pitts.

I'd turn the washer and dryer are into a sling room for fisting.

How is Philadelphia and how does it compare with other metropolises? I feel like Flyoverstan doesn’t hear too much about it but it’s a large city.

As opposed to Pittsburgh? I had a senior moment. Is Pittsburgh as to Cleveland as Philly is to New York?

Beautiful architecture. However Pittsburgh gets far less days of sunshine than both Seattle and Portland. AND has hot humid Summers, polluted air and water. No thanks. Unless it was an Autumn residence. Which seems to be the only time "Pitt" has decent weather and some blue sky.

I like the look of it, including that sanitarium front gate and the marble stairs that'll be fun with wet galoshes. No central air? No in-unit washer and dryer? The postage stamp balcony overlooks the parking lot? I love no one living over me, but four flights of stairs?! And for the love of God when are designers going to stop with the fucking no-door glass shower? Nothing is more fun that cold air rushing in during a hot shower.

Oh, and the monthly HOA fees sound insane. But it does look nice.

I always wanted to live in Shadyside. Really charming, but this unit's a bit too old fashioned for me. But a great location. Close enough to New York New York......I mean, 5801 Bar, but a few blocks from the busway.

High HOA fees either mean lots of repairs to do or low reserves.

R2: The two sites are at odds, then, as the text description in Zillow notes, [bold]' In addition to maintenance, the monthly fee includes all utilities and property taxes. '[/bold] From my observation, Realtor.com, usually more relaible on some other things, often botches that with co-ops and lists property taxes as a separate and additional cost. But clearly, something a buyer would want clarified. $1842 in HOA + property tax as a monthly payment would be on the extortionate side.

In a building where co-op fees include all utilities, you pay for your neighbors' excesses as well as as their conservation measures. The convenience counts for something, but it can be more expensive.

R16: The building has an elevator.

R9: I agree about the room sizes. Initially, I only noticed the dimensions of the bedrooms, but looking at a more complete list, the rooms are not large and there is no one properly large room in the place which is a definite negative for me; but all would depend on actually seeing the rooms. A floor plan wouldn't hurt, but they don't seem common in listings in Pittsburgh. The city and much of the state seem to be very conservative. I think a lot of the multi-list associations repeat some old story of a decades old lawsuit about false square footage claims being the reason that they assiduously avoid that important detail. Floor plans are still a step too far for them.

The other concern for me would be the ceiling heights. They are not oppressively low, but it doesn't seems there's much luxury to the height either. Another thing that would either feel right or wrong immediately on visiting the place.

[quote] $1842 in HOA + property tax as a monthly payment would be on the extortionate side.

Although not entirely impossible for a property in Shadyside, and of that age.

Any yinz jagoffs gun dahntahn n'at?

I love the single washer and dyer for the whole building.

Co-op fees usually include an underlying mortgage that's paying for long-term capital improvements. If that's the case, the mortgage portion is tax deductible and it becomes smaller over time. That would be one of my first questions.

A 1913 building isn't going to have central air unless it's been gutted at some point and then the ceiling also would be lowered. The snobbishness about window units is funny---good ones are quiet and use less energy than heat pump and if there is steam heat, that's wonderful in the winter.

The woodwork, etc. is beautiful. The pocket doors allow the LR/DR to be functionally one room. This unit would cost twice as much in DC. The property taxes would be much lower (DC taxes co-ops differently from condos and the basic tax rate for a primary residence of any kind is a fraction of what it is in Pittsburgh) but the co-op fee could be similar depending on what is covered.