Late-20's couple w/ 2-yr-old moving to Philly from Boston (Philadelphia: real estate, apartment)

[nikmasteed]

When are you moving? summer 2011
Where are you coming from? Boston MA
Why are you moving? closer to family, better housing prices
Where will you be working? center city
Have you been here yet? yes, if you tell me names of neighborhoods or suburbs I will probably know where they are; grew up in Montco

Will you buy or rent? probably rent at first (hopefully something like a 6-month term) then buy
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? condo is not preferred, but ok w/ attached houses/twins/townhomes; 3 bedroom; would likely be $200-230k
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend? during a short-term rental, much more flexible as to type; could be in a 2 br short-term; anywhere from $800-1200; less is better to save money for down payment
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? no real preference, probably not a hi-rise but wouldnt say never

Are you married or single? Do you have children? married w/ 2-yr-old, plans for one more within a few years
Do you prefer public or private schools? public if they are good
Do you have pets? no
Do you want or need a yard? yes, we need a yard when we buy; dont need it if renting short-term
Are you keeping a car? depends on where we live-- i somewhat imagine renting short-term in the city without a car, then buying a car once we settle further outside
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? activity, okay w/ some noise; but like everyone needs to be safe

What do you want to be closest to?
Work
Shopping
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.)
Nightlife
Train or subway stations

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? no preference

Coke or Pepsi? coke
So yeah-- I grew up in Montgomery County in Souderton Area school district, and have lived in Boston for the last 10 years. I come back to Philly often enough that I know where everything is and generally what areas are good/bad. The big thing for us is how we will transition to eventually owning a home-- we've been working with odd schedules since the birth of our daughter and are very eager to become more settled and finally give her a yard to play in (even if it is small).

We will be much more flexible as to what type of place we rent as opposed to what we would look for in a home to buy. I somehow imagine that priorities for a rental would be 900-1000 sf, two bedrooms, and an easy-enough commute preferably without a car (we have never owned a car during our time in Boston, instead depending on subway/zipcar). A yard is not a priority for the rental. I have several friends that live in the Art Museum/Spring Garden areas and they tell me its a pretty good area, and that a 2-br might be around 1200/mo. If paying that amount gives us safety and relative ease of commute, I'd be good with that. Would also be willing to rent in a close-in suburb and own a car if rent is several hundred less, I just dont know what communities. Would probably still prefer to commute by train if living in the burbs.

As for buying a home, our income will likely total $80-90k at first and I imagine our price range would be $200k-230k. Is this unrealistic for moving up to a 3-bedroom? Maybe 1300-1500 sf? We are not looking for a dream home, definitely open to townhomes/attached/twins, etc. It's okay if finishes aren't brand new also, would be okay with updating a kitchen/bath here and there over time. Preferably not a condo however-- prefer to maintain the property ourselves and plan on our own for maintenance rather than be subject to special assessments. A yard would be a must, even if it is small. Although we would definitely be okay with living somewhere where a car is needed, we dont want to become slaves to it-- a walkable community with some shops, proximity to public transportation options would be ideal. Not opposed to DelCo, but perhaps being north of the city (Glenside/Abington?) might be preferred-- wife's family lives in Connecticut so that's closer than Delco.

In all honestly I'd love to end up in the city, but with kids I'm scared of the public schools. I doubt we'd be able to afford something within the catchment of a good elementary school and the entire system just seems daunting to me. I also just watched "Waiting for Superman" and it scared the hell out of me. Maybe down the line once I know more.


Hahaha is this enough info for people to go on? sorry for the long post-- any thoughts/advice and details are much appreciated in advance.

[templeu]

I'm not too familiar with the areas North of the city, so I'll let someone else chime in on those.

A 200-230K in not an unrealistic price range for a 3bed 2 bath, especially if you're open to townhomes/ rowhomes and twin houses. Though, you can actually also find singles in various areas as well.

In Delco - areas you might look include: Brookhaven, Havertown, Springfield, and perhaps even Media. Media is the probably the nicest of these areas in that is has a great school district, access to a train that will take you into Center City, and lots of little shops, restaurants, and bars along their main street. It's the most expensive of the four - so there will be more limited homes in your price range and you'd most likely be looking at attached homes. But it's a great area.

Havertown is also really nice with great schools. The one drawback is that it isn't as conveniently located to the Septa Regional Rail system (our train). There is bus service, etc, and you could also drive to a train and park and drive, but just not as convenient. There are single family homes in your price range here.

There are also homes in your price range in Springfield and Brookhaven. Both have access to a train to CC. Neither really have that walkable community you mentioned. I'm also not too sure what the Brookhaven school district is like.

You might also consider areas to the East of the city ...specifically the Jersey burbs. You could pretty easily find a single family home in S. Jersey in your price range. Neighborhoods you might look at include: Audubon, Haddon Township (specifically Westmont, Haddon Hills, or Haddonleigh sections), Collingswood, Haddon Heights, Barrington, or Cherry Hill. There are lots of single family homes listed in your price range, for instance in Cherry Hill and the school district in phenomenal. Haddon Township and Haddon Heights school districts (of which Barrington is a part - I believe) are also very good. Not quite sure where Collingswood and Audubon fare in terms of their districts.

But the Jersey burbs offer easy access to Phila, and there is a high speed line that can get you into the city pretty quickly. The one thing to be aware of when looking at housing stock is that property taxes tend to be pretty steep in these townships in NJ. But many of these towns are really cute and offer that walkable lifestyle.

[Marius Pontmercy]

Look around University City in West Philadelphia, or maybe Mount Airy. Queen Village would be nice, but no yard. As far as schools go in the city, it is certainly possible to get a good education for you child, you just have to be proactive about where you send them. There are some good public schools, Penn Alexander in West Philly and I believe its Meredith in the QV area. You have to watch where the catchment boundaries are though to find what neighborhood you'd have to move into. Beyond that there are private, parochial (not always good though), and the magnet and charter schools. However, this is going to limit you to certain neighborhoods but, I don't think you'd want to live in a marginal neighborhood anyway.

You could also try some of the older "suburban" towns along the regional rail routes or streetcar lines. Those fit the bill of having green space and being walkable to the community and the rail station that gets you downtown conveniently.

[nikmasteed]

Thanks templeu & marius for your suggestions-- i dont know that i'd dismiss NJ immediately but one major point of our move is to be closer to my family-- which is in northern montco. Not to say the Jersey burbs dont have their merits but it probably will be just a bit too far for our liking.

I have always been interested in Media, but had always thought it to be out of this price range-- but as you say maybe there are some attached home options. will keep this in mind!

It appears to me that real estate in the Penn Alexander catchment is pretty limited/non-existent in this price range-- most of the housing is larger 4-5 bedroom homes and approaching half-mil? Looks like there may be some options in our rental range, so if we check out the area and like it, maybe we could rent there long-term until we can afford to buy.

Kinda the same thing with QV-- doesnt appear to be much of anything below 300k. Sort of goes to my point about not really being able to afford to live within the catchment of the better public schools. I do realize there are other options as you mention in the city, but since we will be new to Philly, it's probably best for us to explore these types of options later.

[Marius Pontmercy]

Completely understand. In those catchments houses go for a premium. I do know that there's reasonable rents around though.

[nikmasteed]

What about some of the areas I mentioned-- Jenkintown/Glenside/Abington? Who is familiar with these areas? I understand there are a few septa stops in these towns. What is the housing like, and what are prices for a 3 br? Are there activities: parks, shops, etc? My one experience was taking a long drive up Old York Road, which in Jenkintown seemed like it had some "Main St" activity. What is commute like from this area?

[templeu]

My husband and I briefly looked at Wyncote (an area next to Jenkintown) as well as Elkins Park and spent a little time in Jenkintown. We really liked the architecture of the homes. The property taxes were really high. We ultimately crossed it off the list b/c we were told the the shops etc on the main st in Jenkintown close up pretty early on most nights. There wasn't a lot of activity the days we visited, so we were worried that was a bad sign. The commute was going to be bad for my husband anyway. But the homes really are beautiful and we loved the landscape of the areas we visited - lots of hills and trees.

You can go to trulia, realtor.com, or prufoxroach.com and search for housing stock in any of these areas to get a sense as to prices.

The extent of my familiarity of those areas are a few hour trips up there on a couple of different occasions - so hopefully someone who lives / or lived there can provide better insight.

[pman]

Originally Posted by nikmasteed

What about some of the areas I mentioned-- Jenkintown/Glenside/Abington? Who is familiar with these areas? I understand there are a few septa stops in these towns. What is the housing like, and what are prices for a 3 br? Are there activities: parks, shops, etc? My one experience was taking a long drive up Old York Road, which in Jenkintown seemed like it had some "Main St" activity. What is commute like from this area?

jenkintown is a one square mile borough, no school buses, everyone is within walking distance. the downtown is walkable if struggling a bit. there is excellent train service to the city. next up the line is glenside which, I think, has a bit more going on in its downtown. be careful here as part of glenside is in abington township (lower taxes) and part in cheltenham (higher taxes). wyncote is in cheltenham, which has jersey style property taxes. also, glenside also has good train service to the city. commute ~30 min. there's a neighborhood in philly called chestnut hill, decent elemetnary school, and a really nice downtown area. next to that is mt airy

[nikmasteed]

Thanks for point out the difference in taxes between Abington and Cheltenham, I'll do some internet searching on home prices