Duplex in Pittsburgh, PA area [All You Can Analyze Weekend]

[Mandy Wultsch]

This is a duplex in Youngwood, PA, a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA, that I have under contract for $80,000. It needs some work, including a new roof and a new window in the basement. It also can use some paint and flooring. I have some possible tenants interested in moving in already.

It comes with one long term tennant (22+ years!) and one empty unit, both of which rented for $550 each, which is slightly below market.

The upstairs occupied unit has 2 bedrooms, 1 bath and the downstairs unit has 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths with the disadvantage of the shower being in the master bedroom.

How does it look? This is only my second investment property.

View report

*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.

[Jim K.]

@Mandy Wultsch

OK, Mandy. Currently I own one of these houses. I used to own three, and one had been converted to a duplex. The style of this house is called the American Foursquare. This is the style of urban house that was typically built in this area from 1890-1929, during Pittsburgh's first building boom.

This one is brick veneer and with a brick porch. That's good. Many were of lighter construction and are falling apart now. The gutters look like they've been converted from the old copper-lined box gutters that were the norm for this construction. That's also good. The roof on this one is not the original (the original was likely slate), and as you say, has reached the end of its working life. There are also quite likely two layers of roofing tiles on this thing, which is going to increase the price of reroofing this place. Conversely, the low slope and uncomplicated hipped arrangement will reduce your price. Chimney looks good, flashing looks questionable. Mo' money. The windows look like replacement vinyl with concrete sills, and that's good, and it's also a good indicator that you see the divider strips on the lower windows simulating smaller panes, what was once called French lights. Replacement windows like that cost more money. No significant grade issues to worry about that I see, no corner cracks on the door and passageway frames indicating irregular settling, also good.

I see one gas meter in the back. That's means shared gas. That's a headache. Nice big kitchen, unusual for these, probably the upstairs kitchen, while the downstairs kitchen is tiny. The upstairs kitchens on converted foursquares are usually converted bedrooms.

Most of the trim looks heavy and plain, which gave the American Foursquare its name, so it's probably mostly original, which is also good. The less the trim has been touched on these, the better, as it was almost always really good white oak when it went in.

The vent in pic 6 of 9 indicates an old-style gravity furnace, which means that when you replace it, you'll need a new-style variable speed furnace, which is about 50% more expensive than a standard forced-air furnace. In pic 3 of 9, we see a closed off back porch -- that porch was originally just a roofed back porch, somewhere along the line someone tore out the wall, I'll bet.

Electrical is always questionable on this kind of property. Was it rewired properly? Are there dual boards down in the basement? Do you see connections with knob and tube going up through the floor? That happened a lot back in the day.

And what is the basement made of? In later construction, it would be poured concrete. Earlier, you might find fieldstone. What about the water supply? Was it converted to copper or is the original galvinized water supply line still in place? Go find the water supply itself and scratch the pipe that leads into the wall with a knife. You should see the gleam of copper. If you don't and you see instead a dull silvery gleam, that's lead and it's an expensive problem to replace and a source of permanent liability of you don't.

What about the sewer line? With a property of this age and style and with those trees in place, it's imperative to scope it. Spend the money.

The extensive use of carpeting usually raises a red flag. There is very likely no sound insulation between the second floor and first floor unit, and the carpet is there to mitigate the problem. That will be a problem going forward.

I could go on and on with stuff that's probably not in the inspection report. You have to remember, home inspections are there to tell you what's really wrong with the house, not how suitable the place is for running as a rental.

If this is all the information I had to work with, I would probably go ahead with the buy. This looks pretty good, Mandy.