Home in chester springs,PA (Philadelphia, Pottstown: transplants, real estate, townhomes)

[homebuyer08]

Is it a good idea to buy a home in chester springs,PA???. What are pros and cons of buying a carraige home vs single family??. The reason I am asking is that in chester springs both carraige home and single family homes are in the same price range.

[rainrock]

In general a single family home will probably hold its value better than a carriage home. If I had a choice and the $$$ was equal I'd personally go with the single family home.Thats just my opinion.

Chester Springs seems to have an excellent location. Close enough to shopping in Exton/KOP/West Chester and the corporate office parks of Malvern/ Great Valley/Conshohocken/Plymouth Meeting. But far enough where you can get a decent bang for your housing buck.

Great potential,everything is newer,lots of elbow room(for the time being) pleasant countryside, and they built too many houses which results in great housing deals. The only downside would be if you had to commute to Center City,South Jersey or Wilmington on a daily basis. Alot of transplants seem to be taken aback by the age and character of this area. If you want or expect newer amenities the Exton/Chester Springs area is one of the locations they should be looking at.

Good luck

[ShannonMilligan]

Chester Springs in nice...are you looking at the Pulte carriage homes?
I just sold my carriage home and I must say there are advantages and disadvantages to one.
Single: will probably hold value better as stated above. But, there is more to take care of in a single home. Yard work being the biggest IMO.
Carriage home: less to take care of but you will have more noise b/c you do share some walls.
It just depends on you. If I were a single person I would probably go with a carriage home but since I am married with kids we just bought a single.

[samsmith]

Chester Springs isn't considered as good as Malvern, Paoli etc. So as far as location is considered , its lower in the scale.

If you have a big family, children, pets, you are better off buying a single family home.

If you are in your late 20's early 30s focussing on your carreer, a carriage home is perfect. Exterior is taken care of by the HOA, including lawn, garbage roof etc etc. Just pay a nominal fee and you have outsourced those problems.

Long term as baby boomers retire, they will be SELLING their big single family homes and moving into single family homes with a bedroom on the 1st floor. I believe this is where the demand will increase. With housing issues people will downsize from mcmansions to more practical and realistic homes. I don't believe that single family home would appreciate any more than carriage homes. Townhomes are a different matter, you should stay away from them. They are a builders dream, you will see many of them.

[ShannonMilligan]

Chester Springs is still very nice...Just take a look at the Lexus dealership right down the road from where they want to purchase, lol! Yes, Malvern and Paoli are upscale, but Chester Springs is also VERY nice. (Toll Brothers has some nice, expensive homes right across the street from the Lexus dealership)

[BPP1999]

Originally Posted by samsmith

Chester Springs isn't considered as good as Malvern, Paoli etc. So as far as location is considered , its lower in the scale.

Actually, a year or 2 ago there was an article (it may have been in Philadelphia Business Journal) about Chester Springs and how that is a hot area and people want a Chester Springs post office address. It's becoming a countrified part of the Main Line.

[nic529]

I am also thinking of relocating to PA - just don't know where. We are from NJ - Burlington County. We'd like to be able to buy an affordable home (250 or less) with a decent yard in a nice neigborhood with excellent schools. Any recommendations?

If you do have any - zip codes would be very helpful for realtor.com.

thanks!

[ShannonMilligan]

Originally Posted by nic529

I am also thinking of relocating to PA - just don't know where. We are from NJ - Burlington County. We'd like to be able to buy an affordable home (250 or less) with a decent yard in a nice neigborhood with excellent schools. Any recommendations?

If you do have any - zip codes would be very helpful for realtor.com.

thanks!

For that price, East Coventry is a nice area with a great school system: Owen J Roberts. There are nice new single families in the development I used to live in (Coventry Glen) by Ryan homes for around $280K...I know that is more than you are looking for, but everyone is making deals in this market. Phoenixville, Royersford, Collegeville are also nice areas. I don't know the zips there, but the zip for East Coventry is 19465. (THat is a Pottstown zip, but it is NOT pottstown)
I lived in Bucks County in Newtown PA as well, but for the money you want to spend you probably won't find much. Exton is nice as well...Maybe in this market you can find something in that price range. I would also check out Downingtown.

[thenewmainline]

Urban Dictionary has some funny descriptions of Chester Springs.

[orrmobl]

From my limited knowledge of Chester Springs, it is for the McMansion nouveau riche or wannabe set who don't realize that old homes have character and that class and taste cannot be bought. Again this is just based upon my knowledge of my wife's friend who bought there and how out of whack her value system is. That being said, the neighbors kids are shunning her children so they can't be all bad .

I just don't get spending all that money to live further out and STILL be in the Downingtown school district when you can live closer in to everything, still find some green space and have better schools and lower taxes to boot.

Then again I prefer old homes to new construction as well so it all depends on personal preference.

I would check out the areas covering Great Valley, Tredyffrin, West Chester, Garnet Valley, and Chadds Ford schools. That's Malvern, Paoli, Berwyn, Wayne, West Chester and Chadds Ford.

Collegeville was recently named "best bang for the school buck" by a real estate web site - also worth checking out.

And avoid carriage homes like the plague...the peace of not sharing a party wall with anyone is priceless. These really are tailored for singles who aren't home often and older couples, tho why they need a giant carriage home I'm not sure.