Seattle native moving to work in Wilmington – seeking relocation advice

[Baton Rouge]

Thanks to both of you (uptown + sixth). Our decision has been made by the demands of my upcoming job, which will require that I interact with community and business leaders. Social networking will keep me in Wilmington so we've decided to jump into the local environs with both feet. We'll still use Philadelphia a lot due to the convenience and what is has to offer in the way of art museums, galleries, etc. Plus, local property tax seems significantly lower so we can save a little dough. I am attracted to the "old farmhouses" possibilities. All I've seen online is in Wilmington itself and I have to admit that the vernacular architecture (50's aluminum/vinyl siding style) isn't attractive to us. We very much appreciate "old". The other thing is that Philly had a lot of stone houses (our 1820 house in Boston) that we'd really like, but such is life and we'll just move on. The next City-Data investigation will be about other pragmatic quality of life issues like determining our overall tax liabilities, utility costs, etc. We had dinner at a decent restaurant when we were there last week - Harry's. Nice menu and great service. The next evening we were taken to Deep Blue on 11th that was even better. Certainly won't be a regular but it's there.

[frankb0419]

how about the schools in Brandywine ??? I found this thread to be very informative....

Thank you because your are right thread after thread its about Middletown....

I was down there last week scouting as we are planning to relocate out of South Jersey

and my $10K per year property tax bill and yes overpriced car insurance.

The 1 thing I did not like in Middletown was 301 runs right through it with all the trucks...

and there was a horrible accident just a few weeks ago involving semi and passenger vehicle.

[stevenindelaware]

Coming from Seattle and having been there I would recommend the PA area. You mentioned KOP and Downingtown. I lived there for almost a year and only moved because I do not have kids. When I do have kids my first step will be to move into PA. This area is close enough to Philly and 1/2 hour away from Wilmington. DE is a great state but the schools scare me. Just from the kids I run into, very few seem well educated or with manners.

[doctorjef]

Off the top of my head I can immediately think of one old stone farmhouse in the Pike Creek area of greater Wilmington for under 500K currently on the market. There are some other older homes in the Wilmington burbs that aren't of the "vernacular vinyl/aluminium siding style" that are currently on the market under half a mil. You need to find a good realty company website where you can browse all the MLS. As I recall, we aren't supposed to recommend specific realtors here or I'd tell you what I think is the easiest site to use for New Castle County. If you do a google search you'll find a decent site (assuming you aren't already dealing with a realtor).

Three best restaurants in Wilmington: Krazy Kats (Montchanin), Moro (Trolley Square), Green Room (at the Hotel Du Pont, downtown).

[doctorjef]

I just checked my usual realty website and could not find the Pike Creek house. Perhaps it sold very recently. Sorry.

[Baton Rouge]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

Off the top of my head I can immediately think of one old stone farmhouse in the Pike Creek area of greater Wilmington for under 500K currently on the market. There are some other older homes in the Wilmington burbs that aren't of the "vernacular vinyl/aluminium siding style" that are currently on the market under half a mil. You need to find a good realty company website where you can browse all the MLS. As I recall, we aren't supposed to recommend specific realtors here or I'd tell you what I think is the easiest site to use for New Castle County. If you do a google search you'll find a decent site (assuming you aren't already dealing with a realtor).

Three best restaurants in Wilmington: Krazy Kats (Montchanin), Moro (Trolley Square), Green Room (at the Hotel Du Pont, downtown).

Thanks for the lead - and if there is one such house there may be others. We're hoping the spring opens the busier real estate season and more houses come onto the market. We've started working with a realtor who was recommended to us, so if there are houses other than the ones she sends, I can contact her about them. I have heard that Moro is a good restaurant, so thanks for those recommendations as well. I've really appreciated everyone's feedback and will accept any and all suggestions. From our contact with the Wilmington people so far, I'd have to say that they have been universally warm, helpful, and genuine. We look forward to making them our friends. Thanks to all.

[RATT]

Thank you SN,
Your thread as been extremely helpful,
i have red it with pen and paper in hand taking a copious among of notes.
The mind boggling thing though about hockessin is that despite having one of the highest income in the state along with the one most expensive real estate area,every body says that it smell like - mod cut - inappropriate language - ??!! go figure.
Does anyone know why?

[doctorjef]

Are you serious? Or does my irony meter need readjusting? If you are serious, the only reason I can think of would be the proximity of mushroom farming in nearby Pennsylvania. However, IME it's only very close to any mushroom farming operation that you smell anything (I'm thinking of an example on the outskirts of Kennett Square, PA). When in Hockessin I've never noticed anything. Hockessin really is a lovely area, though I find it a little too far off the beaten path and too suburban for my tastes. There are still some areas there where you can feel that you are in the country. This time of year it's very verdant.

[doctorjef]

BTW, getting back to the OP, I see there is a big, updated 1809 farmhouse in Pike Creek that is now on the market for an asking price of 559K. Looks very nice and has a 2-car garage addition. Should be easy to find if you pull up listings in Pike Creek in that price range.

The realty company whose website I always use to monitor the MLS is Millman Realty. They have a very user-friendly MLS websearch that seems to be complete for New Castle County, though they only have partial listings for Kent and Sussex. They also have listings in the surrounding out-of-state areas, though I'm not sure how complete those listings are (my guess is pretty thorough for the immediately contiguous counties of SE PA).

Oh gee, I hope I haven't just violated a rule -- I'm NOT recommending Millman as a realtor, just commending their website to do your own MLS search in New Castle County. Don't know if that's kosher or not. I typically use a number of different realty websites in DE and other states to keep tabs on the market, so from my POV that's different from recommending a realty company for their actual services as sellers' or buyers' agents. Moderator clarification may be needed here. The foregoing referenced website is the best and easiest I've been able to find for NCCo.