If home buyers prefer new construction, pickings can be slim in many city neighborhoods.

Every once in a while, however, an old building is torn down, paving the way for a brand-new home.

That's the story behind the two-story Victorian-style house at 304 Raymond St., Swisshelm Park (MLS No. 769062), which Anthony Cimino of RE/MAX Heritage has listed for $229,000 (pghhomefinder.com).

Last summer, a two-car cinder-block garage sat on the 30-by-110-foot city lot, arguably one of the prettiest streets in this tight-knit, family-oriented community.

At a glance:
Swisshelm Park

• Size: .48 mile; part of city's 14th Ward
• Population: 1,378 (2000 census)
• School district: Pittsburgh Public Schools; www.pghboe.net
• Average SAT scores: 539 Verbal, 560 Math, 534 Writing (Taylor Allderdice High School)
• Taxes: For a house assessed at $100,000: $2,941
  City: $1,080 (10.8 mills)
  School: $1,392 (13.92 mills)
  County: $469 (4.69 mills)
• Wage tax: 3 percent, split between the city (1 percent ) and school district (2 percent)
• Fun fact: In 2008, while swimming in the surf in Ocean City, Md., an 11-year-old Delaware girl found a zip bag containing two credit cards, a Pennsylvania driver's license and more than $1,000 cash. It belonged to a man from Swisshelm Park.

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Then C& H Enterprises purchased the property for $31,500, tore the garage down and -- with blueprints found on DreamHomeSource.com -- built a 1,300-square-foot, three-bedroom home.

"It's such a nice street," noted Mr. Cimino.

The big attraction is the home's exterior design and generous floor plan, which Mr. Cimino describes as "spicy" and loaded with "sex appeal."

In addition to fish-scale shingles in the gable over a two-story bay, the house boasts a covered front porch that's perfect for people-watching, reading the paper or enjoying a drink with friends.

It also holds a new two-car detached garage with direct access to an alley and a level back yard.

"It's a small lot, but we got a lot of house on it," Mr. Cimino said.

To show how much, he'll be holding an open house today from 1 to 3 p.m.

What sets the home apart from its older neighbors is a first-floor laundry, Jacuzzi tub in the main bath and a full basement with a game room area. (It's roughed in for a full bath.)

Other upgrades include a 13-by-8-foot kitchen with maple cabinetry, hardwood floors, 42-inch-tall cabinets and stainless-steel appliances, and a concrete patio off the 11-by-10-foot formal dining room.

There's also a first-floor powder room and a 13-by-12-foot living room with a bay window.

As an added incentive, the buyer gets a three-year abatement on county and city property taxes.

Because so few houses go on the market in this old-style city neighborhood, turnover is usually fairly quick.

Of the nine houses currently on the market, Mr. Cimino notes, six already have offers.

In the past year, two houses have changed hands on Raymond Street: $148,000 in May 2008 and $143,000 in November 2008 (www.realstats.net).

Current taxes on the house, if it is sold for the full asking price, would be approximately $6,760.

Residents of Swisshelm Park (www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us/district5/) attend Pittsburgh Public Schools (www.pghboe.net).

Just a short distance to the extensive trails of Frick Park, the neighborhood is equally convenient to the Squirrel Hill shopping district and Edgewood Town Center.

As such, it's popular with city employees and those employed by Oakland's hospitals and universities.

The fact that you can get Downtown without going through a tunnel ain't bad, either.