Looking to move to PA from AZ. Need recommendations

Submitted by CalypsoRaine t3_11o6vif in Pennsylvania

Hi. My bf, me, and his grown daughter are from AZ. We are looking to see what's decent for rent either an apt, townhouse or maybe a house.

2 bedroom 2 bath would be a good start. If a 3 bedroom had a good deal, we'll take it.

We are planning next year to move out to Pa, that's the goal. We are looking in Pittsburgh, maybe Philly i heard has high crime. My bf would be looking for IT work.

The rent in AZ is so high this is why we are looking outside of the state. Does PA have any rental agencies who can help consumers find affordable rent? If so, what are the names of these agencies?

Can anyone recommend affordable rent in a decent area outside of Pittsburgh? We would take a place on the outskirts of the city but not too far out to where we'd have to drive over an hour.

I saw some rental places that's 1240 to 1500 which is doable for us. We are looking to rent between 1000 to 1700 which is ideal. We have no family out there, it'll only be us doing this.

Edit: forgot to mention we are bringing 2 cats

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HomicidalHushPuppy t1_jbr4hq6 wrote

>The rent in AZ is so high

>affordable rent

Give us some references as to what's "affordable" and what's "high"

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CalypsoRaine OP t1_jbrbvcl wrote

Oh geez 🙄 Google does work. We are paying 2k for rent. Other areas in AZ are 2500 to 4k. Hell, I saw 6k in a city thats expensive here. Rent goes up here about 600 to 800 dollars which is insane.

Forgot to mention we are bringing 2 cats with us

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benfranklinsmustache t1_jbre2d3 wrote

Youre quite snarky for someone asking for help and advice. If google works for figuring out Arizona rents, then google also works for finding rental agencies in Pennsylvania.

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CalypsoRaine OP t1_jbredsc wrote

Well, not trying to be but you guys live there and I'm just trying to get some help. We have never lived in PA, but I don't like when people gatekeep and won't provide info when it's being asked.

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benfranklinsmustache t1_jbrgg5w wrote

You live in Arizona and have easy info to provide?!

It's not gatekeeping to ask what your baseline idea of "high rent" is. Pennsylvania is a BIG state with a large swing in rents between Philly and Pittsburgh.

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CalypsoRaine OP t1_jbrgrip wrote

What i mean by gatekeeping is how people won't provide info like what realtors they use and be like "hey I have used xyz agent or agency here's the info it might help you." I'm not trying to argue.

Sorry if I was an ass, but it's been kinda stressful.

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Super_C_Complex t1_jbsdd8h wrote

People were asking for more information on order to help give you a better answer though.

Because if $1000 is high to you, there's not much we can do. But if you think $3000 is not high, then we can give you an answer.

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AdriftAtLast t1_jca9w28 wrote

You were an ass and your expectations are unrealistic. That's a bad combination.

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CalypsoRaine OP t1_jcai7yl wrote

I did apologize. What was unrealistic? We are trying to find affordable rent since it keeps rising in AZ. All I'm asking is if there's a rental agency in PA who helps ppl find a place like what we have in AZ.

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benfranklinsmustache t1_jbrgvom wrote

Anyways, rents in my suburban Philly town go from 1500-3600 depending on if its a studio or a 3 bedroom.

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HomicidalHushPuppy t1_jbrdmjy wrote

At least where I live, $1400 will get you a new-ish 2 bed apartment. There's nicely-updated split-level 3-bed/2-bath house for rent in my neighborhood for $2500.

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Unique-Public-8594 t1_jbr2kh5 wrote

Most people try apartments.com or zillow or a realtor. Good luck to you.

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CalypsoRaine OP t1_jbr327n wrote

I was using those. But I'm looking for apartment finder a realtor who can help us find a place. We have those in AZ.

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worstatit t1_jbtvioz wrote

Look for a rental agent, rather than a realtor. Realtors in Pennsylvania mostly focus on sales, rather than rental. Some act as rental agents as well, but you may be limiting your results by just seeking realtors. Property management companies also broker rentals, but are not necessarily realtors.

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DisciplineShot2872 t1_jbr6b8i wrote

My wife and I moved from Southern Arizona to Philly a year ago. Setting aside the seasons and climate differences, it will depend a huge amount on where exactly you're coming from and going to. Large swathes of the State are less diverse than you may be used to. Work is also a question. What sort of jobs are you looking for?

Edit: Just saw IT work. That's always a relatively easy job to find work in, but as always, easier near larger communities.

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CalypsoRaine OP t1_jbrc3ig wrote

I don't know yet what I'll be looking for, I'm also gonna start an etsy shop to bring in more money. his daughter probably will look for a warehouse job. How do you guys like PA?

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DisciplineShot2872 t1_jbrfmig wrote

Seeing what you're paying in rent, it's cheaper in Philly, even in nicer neighborhoods. I pay $1400 for a 2/1 rowhome in working class Philly, but that is on the high side. I won't claim there's no crime, but it's not the lawless hellhole some claim. It's also hugely diverse and has just about everything you could want. It's also similarly sized to Phoenix populationwise, though much more compact.

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CalypsoRaine OP t1_jbrgwd5 wrote

Ah, diverse! That's what we're looking for That price fits us perfectly

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DisciplineShot2872 t1_jbrhrj7 wrote

You'll probably do better in one of the major cities, which means Phiily or Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is 300,000, with a metro of 2.4 million. Philly is 1.6 million, with a metro of 6.3 million. Phoenix is a hair bigger than Philly, with a metro of 4.9 million, but again, it's a lot larger geographically. There's only one other city of more than 100,000 in the state, which could lead to a huge culture shock (my wife had the opposite issue, coming to Philly from Cochise County).

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Super_C_Complex t1_jbsdlrp wrote

I was gonna correct you that Erie has over 100k, but it does not anymore.

Although if you count Beaver Stadium. There's temporarily 4 over 100k

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Beutiful_pig_1234 t1_jbsln4y wrote

Funny thing about Philly . It’s been 1.5 mil since 1990 .. for 30 years population is within that 1.5 to 1.6 mil range

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basement-thug t1_jbu9v0q wrote

I don't think you'll find it more affordable in PA based on the information provided. You should also prepare yourself for a property you look at being considerably older, attached to other homes (look up row homes in PA), and the overall quality of the homes is much much lower because they are much much older. Rent for a decent place even in rural areas an hour outside of Philly, etc.. can still run $1500/mo. Newer built communities like condos easily run $2k/mo. You can certainly find less expensive places but I've seen a few that were barely habitable still asking $900/mo.

The home quality and conveniences you are used to seeing in AZ as the "status quo" will be a very expensive high rent place in PA generally speaking.

PA was basically built in the beginning of the start of the country, Arizona at the end. It's common for the place you are looking at to be 100+ years old with antiquated electric/plumbing/heating/cooling and smaller size-wise, lots of stairs, poor use of space... limited or no parking... unless it's new construction, in which case it will be more expensive yet.

Having lived in multiple states across the US and traveled a lot for work across the entire US. I will never move back to PA once we leave. It's just too old, too conservative, too expensive to be worth it compared to all the options.

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CalypsoRaine OP t1_jc2zm2k wrote

1500 works for us. I did look up row homes, the ones I found are cheap. I was shocked I saw most are old homes which is fine.

I saw places in Pittsburgh and Philly that were over 2k like geez almost like here.

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teefausto t1_jbr6oup wrote

Look into the south hills areas (Bethel Park, Baldwin, Whitehall, Castle Shannon, South park). I live in the city but my boyfriend is from Whitehall and we're constantly down there. 10-20 minute drive into the city depending on the area, access to most things you'll need, pretty good areas, average rent prices especially on homes. Look into the north hills as well.

We unfortunately have to move to Nevada for my job buuuut I was just looking at rentals the other day on zillow and Facebook, I don't remember seeing anything over 1800.

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teefausto t1_jbr71k1 wrote

Also, I have a friend who works for Bridge Home Realty. They have a few rentals on their site now, I've never used a realtor to find a rental so I can't help much there!

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