Harrisburg PA (Carlisle, Columbia, Camp Hill: for sale, real estate, homes)

[mroberts327]

I am a (hopefully soon to be) first time homebuyer living in Carlisle at the moment but looking at homes in Harrisburg. I was wondering if anybody could tell me the better neighborhoods to be looking into in Harrisburg. I am looking for a place where my home value has the best potential to appreciate over the years but more importantly I'm trying to find a safer part of the city. All I know is that Allison Hill is not a desirable location and parts of Olde Uptown are being renovated heavily. What about Midtown & Uptown? I'm looking at a few homes just outside Olde Uptown near the governor’s mansion, how is that area? Anybody who can lend me some advice would be greatly appreciated!

[mzjokerjam]

Hi there I live in the Lawnton Development in Swatara Twp behind the Swatara post office...On Eddington Ave- there is a home for $179,000 for sale..it needs a little work and you maybe able to get it for les..considering homes in this area really done stay on the market long, even considering the times. I purchase my home in 2001 for $126,000 and with this market it was apprasied at $210,000.00 just Dec 2008. Home ownership in this area will sale faster than intercity homes..due t the unsurness of what the City COuncil has in store. The Midtown area has been going throgh thee changes since I moved here in 1995 and very little. GreenSt Properties does most of the renovations and the homes do look nice, but really overpriced..not the Green st Properties real estate company but the properties in general. My brother n law paid $169,000 for a suppose to be Brown stone home on Green street- windows had to be replaced- Kitchen needs renovating- last owner was a handyman....cellar basement three floors etc..His home appreciated...in two years-not...it declined...some- he over paid--he wanted that city life...I will take my .50 acres and pool any day.....Ok schools- Central Dauphin is not as great as it once was with the rezoning of Swatara Middle school. Hope this help. also..further down Green st towards susquehanna- is a nice very nice area.....if you want to stay close to the city.

[danwxman]

Originally Posted by mroberts327

I am a (hopefully soon to be) first time homebuyer living in Carlisle at the moment but looking at homes in Harrisburg. I was wondering if anybody could tell me the better neighborhoods to be looking into in Harrisburg. I am looking for a place where my home value has the best potential to appreciate over the years but more importantly I'm trying to find a safer part of the city. All I know is that Allison Hill is not a desirable location and parts of Olde Uptown are being renovated heavily. What about Midtown & Uptown? I'm looking at a few homes just outside Olde Uptown near the governor’s mansion, how is that area? Anybody who can lend me some advice would be greatly appreciated!

The area right around the Governor's mansion is considered Olde Uptown. This area has the best potential for appreciation. Midtown is the safest bet in the city and has seen dramatic appreciation in the past ten years (some homeowners have really made out well) but for the most part have stopped appreciating. Olde Uptown is sort of poised where Midtown was a decade ago.

Uptown (anything above Maclay) has the least chance of appreciating. As more of Midtown and Olde Uptown gentrify, the bad element gets pushed into Uptown. However 2nd street is pretty good throughout all of Uptown and above Division it is pretty good for the most part.

[BevoInPA]

Do you want to be in the city? The taxes are VERY high and the schools are bad. I have been looking and considered the city but evidently there is a form you must sign at closing to recognize property defects that violate code. You could be on the hook to fix those items if the city ever enforces it. Harrisburg is so compact that I consider Lemoyne, Wormlysburg, Camp Hill, and New Cumberland to also be in the "urban core". I looked at a cape cod on Columbia Ave in Camp Hill the other day for $119,000! That is dirt cheap. I did not care for the sound of 581 in the distance.

[danwxman]

Originally Posted by BevoInPA

Do you want to be in the city? The taxes are VERY high and the schools are bad. I have been looking and considered the city but evidently there is a form you must sign at closing to recognize property defects that violate code. You could be on the hook to fix those items if the city ever enforces it. Harrisburg is so compact that I consider Lemoyne, Wormlysburg, Camp Hill, and New Cumberland to also be in the "urban core". I looked at a cape cod on Columbia Ave in Camp Hill the other day for $119,000! That is dirt cheap. I did not care for the sound of 581 in the distance.

Taxes are high but you have to take into consideration that property values are undervalued and quite low compared to the suburbs. So in the end, you might not pay any more in property taxes in the city then you would in Camp Hill for example. That is not always the case however.

Real estate prices are certainly dropping in some of the suburbs! It's kinda scary but it was going to happen sooner or later.

[DC Oldtimer]

Real estate prices are certainly dropping in some of the suburbs!

Which ones? Would you advise not buying this year?

[danwxman]

Originally Posted by DC Oldtimer

Real estate prices are certainly dropping in some of the suburbs!

Which ones? Would you advise not buying this year?

I have heard that Camp Hill and East Pennsboro are seeing declines in housing right now. Camp Hill I can't quite explain (so close and convenient to HBG) but East Pennsboro is probably overbuilt. Silver Spring township seems to be having some issues right now, there was a story in the news not too long ago about a developer that literally abandoned a new neighborhood and didn't even bother to finish paving the streets and now the people who live there are suing. Silver Spring Township has been ground zero for all the exurban development the past few years and the new subdivisions are really putting up homes a lot slower in the past few months.