Buying a house around the Philadelphia or King of Prussia area NEED HELP (Chester: real estate, apartment)

[erica1225]

Hi Everyone,

I am originally from PA but have lived in Virginia Beach for a long time. We have 4 kids, elementary school, middle school, and high school aged. We have also lived in Newark, DE.

We are looking to buy a home in an area that is easy to commute to Philadelphia for work, less than 45 minutes. We do not want to live in the city. We are looking for any advice on areas to look for a home.

We NEED to have good schools, that have lots of opportunities for our kids and is diverse. Some of our kids take advanced classes while the others might need extra help with school work. They all play sports - wrestling, soccer, and football. Schools and education are VERY VERY important to us in this move.

I would appreciate any advice that you could give. Advice on schools and school districts and advice in finding a good neighborhood and area to look at buying a home.

Thank You

[erica1225]

I found this in the forum so I wanted to answer these questions and add to my above questions

When are you moving? early summer
Where are you coming from? virginia beach
Why are you moving? want to be closer to family and have more things to do..sports, shopping, etc
Where will you be working? not sure yet but most likely in Philadelphia or Wilmington DE - work in the non-profit field
Have you been here yet? been to visit philly but not researched the areas

Will you buy or rent? really want to buy but will consider renting in the area that we would buy in- same school district
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? house 350,000
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend? if we rent it would be a house
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? walk up

Do you have a preference of living in a NJ or PA suburb? PA suburb
(If you answered NJ - post your answers here: http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-j...-philadelphia/)

Are you married or single? Do you have children? married, 4 kids
Do you prefer public or private schools? public
Do you have pets? no pets
Do you want or need a yard? need a yard - like to host family get togethers
Are you keeping a car? yes
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? calm and quiet living area

What do you want to be closest to? basic services
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? diverse area is great

Favorite Beverage - Craft Beer, wine, water? wine!

[NewtownBucks]

Your biggest issue, I think, is going to be getting a house for a family of 6 with a big yard in a good school district with a reasonable commute on a 350k budget. You may have to consider which one of those you are willing to compromise on. For a house with a yard with good schools fairly close to the city will probably be more in the 500+ range. For a house with a yard in a good school district under 350, you'll need to look in the more rural areas of Bucks or Chester counties where your commute would be more like an hour or more (and possibly less likely to have train service). To be in a good school district with a reasonable commute and/or proximity to Septa on a 350 budget, you're probably looking at more like townhouse type housing.

[erica1225]

Thank you so much. How is the Drexel Hill area?

[rowhomecity]

So Newtown Bucks is right. While Southeast PA is more affordable than our neighboring East Coast Cities (NYC and DC) 350k limits options close to the city.

With that Drexel Hill you are going to get alot of house for your money and still be close to the city, but you are in Upper Darby school district. And while Upper Darby is not the worst, it is in no way a top performing school district period.

Therefore your #1 recommended location. Havertown, PA. It is just north of Drexel Hill and Upper Darby and part of Havertown is in the highly rated and acclaimed Haverford School District.

Havertown is my #1. You are close to the city. Are in a great school district, and highly accessible to a great deal of amenities within your price point. Start there. Just make sure the listing is in Haverford School District

Havertown borders Upper Darby (which is incredibly diverse) and Haverford (part of the mainline; an affluent region of Philadelphia). Therefore you get the best of both worlds at a lower price point while still being in a top performing school district.

Another BIG question though, is your place of work in Center City Philadelphia? This has a HUGE difference in where to recommend places.

If it is in Center City and you are able to take the Regional Rail into work there are a few more option available that gets you in that window.

As Newtown Bucks accurately said some of your 'wants' are going to have to be ranked what is most important to really give an accurate recommendation. For example with Havertown you are close to some vibrant walkable communities, and some of your other 'wants' but you are in an inner ring suburbs so it might not have as much land as you desire.


If I were you to try to give some more accurate descriptions maybe rank the following in order of importance. In order from 1 - 8. With 1 being your #1 and #8 being your lowest priority. There are some other places that might stand out based on what you are looking for based on your price range!

Education
Calm and quiet living area
Work
Shopping
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.)
Nightlife
Train or subway stations
Commute Time

[erica1225]

Thank you so much for your help. My rank is below

1. Education
2. Calm and quiet (safe) living area -- nice neighborhood
3. Basic Services near (supermarket, drugstore,)
4. Shopping
5. Commute Time - not more than 45 mins from Philly with moderate traffic
6. Work- will be working in either Philly or Wilmington
7. Train or subway
8. Nightlife (not important at all)

Also the huge yard is not a necessity just somewhere that has a yard - space enough to entertain and have a deck/patio area and for the kids to run around a little.

Thanks again

[Icy Tea]

I always liked Audubon when I drove around in it on some brief trips. It seems to have some good open space for an otherwise heavily developed suburb. I imagine its got good amenities being so close to KOP.

[rowhomecity]

I would focus on the Rose Valley/Wallingford/Swarthmore areas. Great schools. Great amenities. Close to Philadelphia and Wilmington. And an attainable area within your price point. A great deal of the inner ring suburbs with the highest rated schools are going to have more expensive real estate. So you are not going to get quite as much house for your money, but I would start in this area.

If you need to commute to Wilmington then I would advise against KOP area and the areas north and northwest of the city, as your commute would be absolutely DREADFUL.

Do you know for sure if your commute is into Wilmington? Also will you be working in Center City? If so this opens up a few more areas.

Southeast PA has a solid commuter rail network (3rd largest in the nation) so if you are working in Center City you can easily live a bit further out and get a little more for your money, while also having a bit more of a manageable commute.

[rowhomecity]

I can't believe I forgot this area as well, but I would also include Havertown, PA. The area is divided into 2 school districts, with Haverford Township School District being one of the top in the state. There definitely are homes within your budget. Again most of these homes are going to be on the slightly smaller side. As these areas are all inner ring suburbs.

[erica1225]

rowhomecity - Thank you so much for all your help. Relocating is not an easy task. So where we will work is very up in the air. My husband may be working in Wilmington while most of the jobs I would be looking at would be in Philadelphia area but I don't know where exactly. We would like Wilmington to be an option for work.

Just to touch all of our options - can you give me any advice about Norristown and the schools as well as Drexel Hill and Upper Darby Schools?

Our big focus is the high schools - after next year 3 of our children will be in high school. They would be coming from a diverse high school that is not an 8, 9 or 10 but has great college readiness programs, academies, and many opportunities for the students.

We would really like to get a nice updated home that has space for 6 but doesn't need to be huge, because hopefully in the next few years we would have 3 kids in college. We do like to have family over and host dinners but again we would like a quiet neighborhood that is not really far from grocery stores, Walmart, etc.

Thanks again!!