I have generally not had issues finding inventory in the other surrounding counties of Pittsburgh (i.e. mostly Westmoreland, Indiana) that being said Inventory has been somewhat limited recently in those areas.

I have been watching the mass influx of New Castle properties hit the market in recent years and have been timid at what is driving this. I have lived in this area my entire life so I am very familiar with New Castle and the associated demographics as well that within New Castle where the good and bad areas are.

More recently I have noted that a lot of the inventory is moving quicker but still plenty of good deals to be had. Not sure if there are out of state investors that have been keyed onto this area but the last year there certainly has been an uptick in sales.

Now to my question. At the moment this seems to be the best area for quality/price. You can actually buy some really nice houses for sub-$50k and the market rent I would say is comparable to most of the small rural towns outside of Pittsburgh. I am looking for someone who actually has properties in New Castle to hopefully just shed some light on me to their experience since they have been there.

Jared

I wish I could add some information on New Castle but we really don't go north of Beaver. 

BUT, I will just say in regards to inventory, it has been very light even compared to the last two winters (which is always slower). I think (just my guess) that will eviction and mortgage moratoriums there is a pool of usual off-market sellers that are not "forced" into the market to sell. Winter is usually a time we get very motivated sellers even with the volume down. It just hasn't happened this year. I remember last year we had a number of purchases where the seller had to bring 5-figures to the table to get out from under their mortgage at our buy price, but nothing like that this year. The stuff we have been getting is has mostly been sitting vacant for 5-10 years with missing copper and as much rehab as the value of the house afterwards. Just not worth it in the end to buy them. 

I have a couple insureds that have recently purchased properties (within last 2 years) in the New Castle area.  They seem to be doing well and when I say that I mean rented as of right now.  I know the properties they purchased we're low prices compared to surrounding areas.