why are delaware co taxes so much higher than montgomery co? (Philadelphia: low crime, house)

[gator girl]

And is it worth it?

We've been looking in the 600-800K range and in Delaware Co the property taxes can be as high as 24K/year!!!!! That is outrageous! Does Media offer that many more services than Wynnewood or Bala Cynwyd?
We don't even have school age kids anymore!

[rainrock]

Originally Posted by gator girl

And is it worth it?

We've been looking in the 600-800K range and in Delaware Co the property taxes can be as high as 24K/year!!!!! That is outrageous! Does Media offer that many more services than Wynnewood or Bala Cynwyd?
We don't even have school age kids anymore!

$24 K seems excessively high. I have friends that live right on Springton Resevoir in a million dollar house and they pay $14 K a year in taxes which is pretty steep in its own right. Upper Providence is one of the highest priced areas in Delaware County, you must be looking at a very special piece of property for $24 K in taxes.

The services in Media aren't going to be any better in Media than Montgomery County. Perhaps you are a bit safer in Media as you are 12 miles from West Philly as opposed to 2 or 3 miles in Bala Cynwd. But its the same quality og living overall although Medai may have a bit more elbow room, a bit more laid back.

I think if you priced around the Media area you would find much cheaper taxes average wise.

Good luck

[gator girl]

Thanks for the reply. The house that has a tax rate of 24K is in Media and it is a nice house, but the taxes are just way too steep! I am also assuming that the tax information on the realtor's site is correct...could be a typo.

Are the neighborhoods (Bala Cynwyd, Haverford and Wynnewood, for example) closer to the city less safe?

[rainrock]

The lower end hoods of Philadelphia are really going through a rough time with crime. Unfortunately it seems to be spilling over to some of the leafy neighboring border towns like Wynnewood + Bala Cynwd. The further away you are away from north + west Philly the better off you will be imo. Its too risky for criminals to go deeper into the suburbs where they will have a more risky escape route.

If you are looking in the $600-$800 K range you should be out in Villanova/Radnor/Gladwyne/Penn valley/ imo. There aren't too many criminals brazen enough to create havoc in Radnor or Villanova.

2 Recent Carjackings Under Investigation in Montco



by KYW's Al Novack

Lower Merion Township police are looking for carjackers responsible for two recent car robbery incidents.

The first occurred last Wednesday on Lancaster Avenue, and the second one happened this past Sunday near Cynwyd Circle in Bala Cynwyd.

In both instances, say officials, high-end vehicles were taken: the carjackers took an Infinity in the Wednesday incident and a BMW on Sunday.

No one was injured, and police have very few leads to work on. Detectives are warning drivers that if they believe they're being followed to notify police on their cell phone -- and if possible, drive to a nearby police station.

[gator girl]

Jeez.... I'm thinking that maybe we're better off staying in our little college town! My husband works in the Ped. ICU and has to be able to get to the hospital within 15 minutes and has to work overnight at least 4-5 times a month. I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable being alone at night with so much crime! Living an hour away from campus isn't even an option.

[rainrock]

20-30 minutes outside of Philadlephia is as safe as anywhere in the country.

Concerning the recent carjackings.Thats a first as far as I can remember. Lower Merion usually has an army of cops patrolling the Philadelphia/Montgomery County border. Lower Merion has an extremely low crime rate, like I said pretty brazen act, the hoodrats from Philly usually don't take any chances like that in montgomery county.

Keep in mind Philadelphia is a metro area of 6 million people. 99% of the people are law abiding citizens but there are bad apples to be sure. The violent crime rate in the suburbs is virtually non existent. Unfortunately the city is going through an uptick in crime at the present moment.


Good luck whatever you decide to do.