Moving from Southern Calif to Yikes Middletown DE. please help me decide if this is the town for us. (Dover: real estate)

[Laural]

Hi, I'm moving from Southern California to Middletown De. within the next 6 months. We are looking at buying a home Middletown between $350-$400K, we will be looking at new and used homes, we have 6 dogs so we want at least 1/2 acre, hubby will be working in New Castle. We hear that Middletown is building like crazy and sounds like a nice place to live.

I do hear there is a lot of crime and traffic in Delaware, traffic doesn't really scare me because well we live in Southern California and we are ranked pretty high, but I'm still curious what is considered bad traffic in Delaware. The other thing that scares me is crime. The city I live in now is ranked top 10 lowest crime rate in the country, when we move to Delaware I honestly don't know what to expect do we need to lock doors at all times and do we need to buy a security system, can I walk the neighood alone? Or is this overkill?

In your opinion what do you think are the pro's and con's of living in Middletown. If you don't like Middletown where else would you recommend that's close to New Castle. Like is Bear nice?

Thanks!

[from PA]

Hi Laurel and welcome to the DE forum. My husband and I moved to Magnolia
from PA 18 months ago. We are approx 40 minutes south of New Castle.
Our development has 1/3 acres but there are others nearby with 1/2 and more. Magnolia is a little town just south of Dover that is booming and blooming. I feel very safe here and if you have children, Caesar Rodney is an excellent school district.

I am very familiar with certain parts of Southern California where some people get up at 3 a.m. to start their daily commute to work. The freeways are always conjested and the smog continues to move more southbound every time we visit there. However, the scenery and the mountains are gorgeous and most people don't mind the traffic and commute because they love where they live.

In comparison, Delaware is flat but we are on the coast and lots of scenery
here but no mountains to speak of. Our beauty comes from the fact that in many locations, you can get awesome sunrises and sunsets in the same day. Lots of green , farmlands in the summer and the trees this past fall were extraordinarily bursting with color. Our traffic is nothing like in southern California . The humidity will take a little getting used to in the summer but our winters are relatively mild for the most part. We'll have a cold snap every now and then and occasionally some snow and or frozen rain but not as severe as our northern neighbors .

I know that Middletown too has excellent schools and from what I here, crime is not an issue there. Taxes and real estate in general are extremely
affordable in comparison to southern California. If you don't already know that fact and also, there is no sales tax in the entire state of Delaware.
So don't fret your move, I think you will be pleasantly surprised and welcome the changes here.

[Laural]

Thanks for your response PA. My son is all grown, so schools won't be an issue. I will be loving a more affordable place to live and yes I did know about the no sales tax in Delaware yipee!

Fall I hear is gorgeous, flat doesn't bother me, I definitely won't miss the traffic here and I definitely won't miss the 91,000 people in just my city alone. Way to many people here and we want to be spread out more with some land.

[rdlr]

Originally Posted by Laural

Way to many people here and we want to be spread out more with some land.

What do you call "some land" ?? There are tons of subdivisions in Middletown, on tiny little lots. It's a trade off.....tiny lot, homeowners association, 5 minutes from shopping OR 1/2 acre-2 acre parcel and travel 15 minutes or so to conveniences. Traffic is "horrendous" to locals, it seems. But to newcomers it's a "cake-walk". It's all relative, as I said before, somewhere, some time.

[Laural]

Originally Posted by Laural

we want at least 1/2 acre

We did find some houses in Middletown that were 1/2 and acre and larger, but they had HOA's we HATE HOA's but if we have to we will play nice. Most likely then we won't be able to park our RV on our property, and can't build a fence. We Californian's love our privacy. But we are not opposed to looking outside of Middletown. We basically want a nice neighborhood, and with nice people. We are so tired of the people here.

[rdlr]

Originally Posted by Laural

We did find some houses in Middletown that were 1/2 and acre and larger, but they had HOA's we HATE HOA's but if we have to we will play nice. Most likely then we won't be able to park our RV on our property, and can't build a fence. We Californian's love our privacy. But we are not opposed to looking outside of Middletown. We basically want a nice neighborhood, and with nice people. We are so tired of the people here.

I understand completely. We raised our kids on a very large farm, and it was wonderful. So if no HOA, you'll have to look at a more rural property, outside of the corporate limits. If you haven't checked with a Realtor, that's probably the best way to go. He/she can do a market search and find out what's available suiting your criteria, and mail you active listings. Or did you say you were working with a Realtor?

[Laural]

Originally Posted by Delly

Or did you say you were working with a Realtor?

I am working with a realtor John Luca. I go to his website several times a day, and he sends us listings. My hubby went out there so he's somewhat familar with the area. It's so hard cause the whole state is new to us and we want to make a smart buy.

[Charley]

Originally Posted by Laural

I am working with a realtor John Luca. I go to his website several times a day, and he sends us listings. My hubby went out there so he's somewhat familar with the area. It's so hard cause the whole state is new to us and we want to make a smart buy.

You've got a few folks in this forum who know a great deal about Delaware. Occassionally, some members will see things a bit differently than others, but since everyone sees things a bit differently, it's good to get as many opinions as you can. Ask questions. Lots of them.

Many questions have already been asked and you can find some of the answers in the different topics in the forum. But there's no reason why you can't ask again if you need clarification.

Remember one of my favorite old expressions. The only stupid question is the one never asked. So ask us anything. I've learned a lot about Delaware from visiting frequently and by listening to all the great people who participate here.

Charley

[Laural]

Yep thats what I figured, what I'm asking is very subjective and I hopefully will get new people that will answer this question. I love hearing different perspectives.

[rdlr]

Originally Posted by Laural

I am working with a realtor John Luca. I go to his website several times a day, and he sends us listings. My hubby went out there so he's somewhat familar with the area. It's so hard cause the whole state is new to us and we want to make a smart buy.

Well, then, I'm sure he is working hard for you! Good Luck!