Need help from J.T. residents (Philadelphia, Allentown: ski resorts, 2014, rentals)

[johnnyk.]

Hello to all,

Thank you for taking time to possibly guide me in the right direction...OK, i'm born and raised in Philadelphia.I have family in Western PA and know the area well but i do NOT know the Pocono area...With all my research it seems the best house for the money is in the Pocono area.(200,000ish)... My wife and i have 2 year old twin boys (killing us) lol, and she's agreed the Jim thorpe area. Her family can come see the boys in under 2 hours...(From Philly) I also love the outdoors; Hunting,Fishing ect. and don't want to leave the state for business reasons...My work is all done via internet and phone so i just need to rent an office like i do now...I want to raise my kids in a small town atmosphere but be able to get a great dinner and introduce my sons to the arts i hear is so plevalent in the town of J.T. as well...SOOO, can anyone help me find on a GOOD area within a 15 to 20 minute radius of down town Jim thorpe...Im open to a lake community but would like to be near a mall as well...Were planning on going up to start looking in September but again,the wife will go to the J.T. area and no further..lol..(city girl)..I'll take any advice from people who know the area...Again,Thank you for your time..

J

[maf763]

Why not in Jim Thorpe itself? Live on the east side of the river, home prices are cheaper and the lots are bigger. You'll be close to the cultural area in town but also close to outdoor activities.

[jimazee]

Lake Hauto is pretty nice. Quiet and woodsy, not a metropolis. Some winter days are challenging. Access to shopping etc. need to be evaluated based on personal needs and style. You may want to check it out.

[johnnyk.]

Thank you for that...And i will..open for all suggestions..

[KatWag]

We bought in Bear Creek Lakes. Weekend place now....full time in a few years. I work in Philly and there is no way I am doing the commute in Winter before the Turnpike Interchange is done.

I would check it out. Nice for the kids....pool, lake, etc.

If you PM me I can tell you the realtor we used....we were really pleased with him. Hard worker and did a lot of research before our first visit to match us up well with houses.

There are some other nice spots right around there as well....Sunrise Ridge, for one.

I am thrilled we chose the Jim Thorpe area. We are near the ski resorts, all kinds of parks, etc. there is always something going on in town. Nice bike trails....gentle ones which you can enjoy as a family as well as more challenging ones.

Did you see the YouTube videos on JT? Look for the Best of the Road ones....really nice.

Malls....not so much. Think Walmart and Lowes. Wilkes Barre may be closest mall...or Allentown. Shopping will not be what you are used to although there are some really nice shops downtown.

Penns Peak gets some good shows and is a great spot. Amazing views and you are home ten minutes after the how ends.

There are some things you have to watch out for...like buying in a community where the association cannot afford to fix the roads, etc. We got a lot of good advice from locals before we bought. Also, get prepared to learn more about things like crawl spaces and basements with moisture issues than you ever wanted to know....LOL. There is a reason you see a dehumidifier in most homes when you see houses. But we love our home there and are really happy with our decision. It sounds perfect for your family.

[johnnyk.]

Thank you KatWag...I have noticed looking there are not a lot of homes with basements..Also not a lot with c/a...Your from Philly as am i and im excited but dont want to wind up in the wrong spot...Again,thanks for the great information

[KatWag]

Yeah, we had the same surprise with both of those. Our house up there does not have central air. No ductwork, so adding it will be expensive. But I will be honest and say we will add it when we become full-timers. Right now we use two portable AC units since I am not thrilled with window air conditioners in a house which is vacant five days a week.

You will be told you do not need it. I think that is BS based upon my experience in the last six weeks or so....

Watch carefully in basements to see if the equipment is up on cinder blocks or if you see a tell tale line which indicates water. The water table up there is really high and I have talked to so many folks who get water in the basement.

[johnnyk.]

Awesome information,if you had to do over would you go for the "community" property or look for something stand alone ? I like the idea of maybe a pool or lakes or both etc. but i have heard of golf carts etc. and not sure how i feel about all that..No golf carts in Philly...lol...Dont like the idea of getting company and them having to pay to visit..

[KatWag]

We looked at both options. We live on a golf course in Blue Bell. The HOA rules are a binder three inches thick. Up in the Poconos we did not see any developments around JT that were that extreme. Mostly common sense stuff. They don't want folks cutting down every tree on the property, burning the place down being careless with fire, etc.

Todd travels a lot and I liked the security of having some neighbors at least somewhat near. The homesites in our section of Bear Creek Lakes are an acre or more. So we have some privacy.

Some people who live in BCL own golf carts. But not too many from what I have seen. We sure don't. I figure I have a perfectly good car....not sure why I would want to drop a few thousand to ride around on a golf cart....maybe I am missing something. Definitely no cost for family to visit. You get a bunch of lake and pool badges.

I have read on this site about communities in the Poconos with really restrictive rules. But we did not see any like that during our home search.

They provide security and maintain the roads which I like.

We kind of feel we got lucky ending up where we did. We did not know that much about the area and were fortunate to get some good advice. We looked at some homes we liked in a community near town and I later found out those poor homeowners had to form their HOA after the fact and they live with bad roads because they struggle to save the money to repair them.

Having kids, you may enjoy being somewhere with nice recreation activities for them onsite so you don't always have to drive somewhere else. The HOA fees don't seem too bad from what I have seen.

Towamensing Trails is another development with lots of amenities. It is about eight miles further along 903. I think they get a lot of short-term rentals in the summer. It is a nice development..much bigger than Bear Creek Lakes. We saw several homes we liked there. Their clubhouse even has a restaurant and bar. There is a poster on this site who lives in Collegeville and has a weekend place there. Hopefully he'll chime in. We liked that development a lot too.

[pocopc]

i live full time in towmensing trails. It is a nice area and puts you right in the middle of the bigger cities that have malls. You have stroudsburg, which is about 35 minutes east. You have Allentown about 45 minutes south and Wilkes Barre about 40 minutes north. You are about 15 minutes from downtown Jim Thorpe. HOA fees are decent (400 a year, depending on your road footage so it may be a little more/less) but that gets you club house, arcade, beach, pool, lake, trash, and other events (they have parties for the kids around the holidays). If/when they open the turnpike (i think estimated at 2014 now) you are only about 5 minutes from 476 on/off ramp which would cut the commute to philly by probably 15-20 minutes.

The rules in TT are not too bad. They do have rules, and do enforce them (no fireworks, no fires...without permit, no hot pink houses, etc) I think all there rules are reasonable.

Houses are really a good deal right now. Most are 40-50k cheaper then when we bought 6 years ago.

TT is in Albrightsville PA. There are some small stores. They are building a dollar general. There is a small market, daycare, carewash, flower/craft store, a few restaurants, subway, and a few other stores all around the 903/534 intersection of albrightsville.

Let me know if you want any more info on the towmensing trails/albrightsville area