SO YOU WANT TO MOVE TO PITTSBURGH?

The first time I came to Pittsburgh, I was not looking for a new life. I was looking for an investment property.

A client of mine back home in Portland, Maine was originally from the Steel City, and she kept adding Pittsburgh properties to her portfolio. I finally asked her the obvious question: why Pittsburgh?

Her answer was short.

“Just Google it.”

So I did. That night, after I got home, I opened Zillow and started scrolling. My jaw dropped. How could a city with major universities, hospitals, museums, sports teams, parks, restaurants, and real neighborhoods still have single-family homes that looked within reach?

I had lived through Portland’s 2020 housing surge. I knew how quickly an affordable northern city could become not-so-affordable. Pittsburgh felt like one of those places people had not fully caught on to yet. I had to see this place for myself.

So my husband and I flew in to see houses, and reality hit fast.

North Shore. North Side. South Side Slopes. East End. North Hills. Boroughs. Townships. City limits. School districts. Bridges. Tunnels. Local taxes. A house that said “Pittsburgh” in the mailing address, but was not actually in the City of Pittsburgh.

Our heads were spinning.

That same night, we went to PNC Park for a Pirates game. Cheap tickets, easy parking, no stressful traffic, and a skyline view that looked too good to be real. By the end of the night, we were not just talking about investing in Pittsburgh. We were talking about moving here.

We realized with the complexities of Pittsburgh, it was a much safer investment to move and manage our properties locally. We could give our family access to all of the amenities, we could buy a beautiful single family home, and put our investment dollars in a city that was growing and appreciating in value by the day.

So we did! We spent countless hours researching neighborhoods, schools, parks, taxes, commutes, geography, and on and on. Even when we thought we had a firm handle on the city we arrived and realized we had so much more to learn. We opened businesses and learned from locals and continue to research and study. We were on a mission to become Pittsburgh experts and it truly has been a labor of love.

With so much knowledge beneath my belt I decided to get my real estate license and share that knowledge with others relocating to Pittsburgh so they could do so with confidence. Whether or not I represent you on a real estate transaction, I hope to at least be a helpful resource for you. I have tried to breakdown each topic into a digestable bite so as not to overwhelm you in one fell swoop. Please feel free to subscribe to my blog and reach out if you need additional clarification or have questions I have not covered yet. As your local Pittsburgh relocation specialist, I am happy to assist!

Thank you for joining me. With any luck soon we will be neighbors!

As always if you need a Pittsburgh Realtor or Relocation Specialist, please feel free to email me, Jessica Rutamu Compass RE as Jessica.Rutamu@compass.com