Buying Here: Brookline
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The living room at the home at 1509 Wareman Ave., Brookline, whch is on the market for $139,900. -
Home at 1509 Wareman Ave., Brookline, whch is on the market for $139,900. -
The dining room at the Brookline home, with an entry to the kitchen. -
The kitchen at the Brookline home
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Made of brick with three upstairs bedrooms, 1509 Wareman Ave. is fairly typical of the housing stock in Brookline except for one thing: a first-floor bedroom.
"I use it as an office," said homeowner Kelli Quigley. "I just finished graduate studies at Pitt."
She has put the property (MLS No. 921514) on the market for $139,900 through Todd and Kim Van Horn of Northwood Realty (412-215-3542 or www.northwood.com). An open house is scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday.
Other elements that set this house apart from some of its neighbors are two full bathrooms, a two-car integral garage, a fenced backyard and a gracious front porch with arched openings.
"It has a lot of character and charm," Ms. Van Horn said. "And the floor plan allows you to change things as you need to."
For example, the bedroom and full bath on the first floor would work well for someone who has trouble with stairs. Ms. Quigley said the house also suits her two small children, who were born after she bought it in December 1999.
Not long after she moved in, she repainted the entire house, including the 17- by 12-foot living room and its decorative fireplace, which used to be white. Ms. Quigley also had the downstairs hardwood floors refinished, installed a marble sink in the downstairs bathroom and had the roof and all interior doors and lighting replaced.
The previous owner had updated the 12- by 9-foot kitchen and replaced all the windows with vinyl, thermal units. Ms. Quigley put down a ceramic-tile floor in the kitchen, installed a wood stockade fence in the back, replaced a brick retaining wall and redid the 15- by 10-foot rear deck and some railings.
Two of the three upstairs bedrooms measure 15 by 10 feet and the other is 11 by 8 feet. All are carpeted. The first-floor bedroom at the rear of the house measures 13 by 10 feet. The laundry is in the unfinished basement.
The property has a county assessed value of $68,400 (www2.county.allegheny.pa.us/RealEstate/Default.aspx). Over the past three years, six properties have sold on Wareman Avenue for prices ranging from $31,500 in August 2010 to $117,021 in September 2011 (www.realstats.net).
Ms. Quigley said there is a bus stop at the corner and Carmalt Elementary School is just down the street. Brookline Park, which has a city swimming pool, is within walking distance, as is shopping on Brookline Boulevard. Restaurants on Route 88 are a short drive away and you can reach Century III Mall and other shopping in about 15 minutes.
"It's a good house to raise a family," she said.
First Published November 10, 2012 12:00 am
