Considering a move to Phila suburbs (near NJ)...please help! (Chester: condo, how much) - Philadelphia - Pennsylvania (PA) - City-Data Forum

teegirl · 08-28-2008, 08:03 AM

My husband and I have just started looking at Pennsylvania as a possible next move (we are also considering Delaware). Since we are just starting our search, I don't have many specifics to provide you. We would appreciate any resources you could suggest, that may help in our research!

A little about our situation:

-We are in our early 30's and are expecting our first child.
-We are from NJ and own 2 homes. We would like to sell our primary home and keep our beach house. We cannot afford to pay the exorbitant $10-12,000 a year property taxes that are required for some of the houses we have looked at in NJ.
-A great school system (or an area that is close to a good private school) is our #1 priority.
-Another priority is being relatively close to roadways accessing NJ (where family/friends live).
-Our price range is $350,000-$500,000 and we would like a 4 bedroom, 2+ bathroom home (no condo's), at least 3000 sq ft.
-Are hoping for property taxes under $7,000 for at least 0.5 acres of land.
-What are the average property taxes for a house like the above?

Please let me know any suggested areas for us to start our search or if this is a pipe dream!

Thank you very much.

ajb842 · 08-28-2008, 08:17 AM

Depending on your area, and with your price range, you might still be looking at at those taxes for your home. I would say you could definately pay less, say 5500-8000K for a nice home, it really just depends on where you live. I would recommend Newtown, Yardley, Richboro, some parts of Huntingdon Valley(bucks county). These will give you easy access to 95. I would say you might pay aroun 400k for what you're wanting, less if you want a home that might need some work or you don't want a lot of land.

MoorestownResident · 08-28-2008, 08:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by teegirl

My husband and I have just started looking at Pennsylvania as a possible next move (we are also considering Delaware). Since we are just starting our search, I don't have many specifics to provide you. We would appreciate any resources you could suggest, that may help in our research!

A little about our situation:

-We are in our early 30's and are expecting our first child.
-We are from NJ and own 2 homes. We would like to sell our primary home and keep our beach house. We cannot afford to pay the exorbitant $10-12,000 a year property taxes that are required for some of the houses we have looked at in NJ.
-A great school system (or an area that is close to a good private school) is our #1 priority.
-Another priority is being relatively close to roadways accessing NJ (where family/friends live).
-Our price range is $350,000-$500,000 and we would like a 4 bedroom, 2+ bathroom home (no condo's), at least 3000 sq ft.
-Are hoping for property taxes under $7,000 for at least 0.5 acres of land.
-What are the average property taxes for a house like the above?

Please let me know any suggested areas for us to start our search or if this is a pipe dream!

Thank you very much.

My advice is suck it up and stay in South Jersey. Buy something a little older in a good area. Look in Lumberton/Hainesport in Burlington County, you can find recent construction in that price range with taxes starting around $7K, especially in Hainesport. But it doesn't have top schools.

BPP1999 · 08-28-2008, 08:57 AM

Where do you work?

Most schools in Montgomery, Bucks, and Chester Counties are good to excellent. Check out greatschools.com or schoolsmatter.com. Also, check out philly.com and click over to their educational report.

You might save on property taxes, but I'm not sure how much you're really going to save on this move. You're looking for a fairly large house for a fairly small price.

Here are some places to consider (I tried to list areas that have good interstate access):

Montgomery:
Plymouth Meeting, Lafayette Hill (Colonial SD)
Fort Washington, Upper Dublin (Upper Dublin SD) - the best distict of this bunch listed, but for $500k you'd likely get a 25-40 y/o Colonial with at least $5,500 of taxes.
Abington (Abington SD)

Chester:
Devon, Berwyn, Paoli (Tredyffrin-Eastown SD) - top-rated district

Bucks:
Newtown as a town to check out, but I'm not sure of the district
also, Central Bucks School Districts, and Council Rock
I'm not as familar with Bucks, but as far as I'm concerned, the problem with most of Bucks County is that it has bad highway access. However, it's closer to NJ.

There are both parochial schools (run by the diocese) and also private schools, Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish. These are generally $$$.

orrmobl · 08-28-2008, 11:56 AM

Really depends where you are working. You can find homes with lower taxes but you will pay more for them, or you can find homes that are cheaper with really high taxes. Newer construction and lots of land for a small price usually means pretty far from the city limits.

If commute is not a problem, try Downingtown/Exton/Lionville/West Chester...

teegirl · 08-28-2008, 01:59 PM

Thank you for all of the great advice.

Where we work is not an issue (lucky us)...hubby works from home and I plan on taking a year off for maternity leave, and then (possibly) going back to work. My company will try to accomodate me with a new position, to wherever I move.

The price range I gave was if I did not go back to work. If I did, we could afford more. But I wanted to try to be conservative in my initial approach! Thanks!

kelb · 08-28-2008, 07:01 PM

You will be happy in Yardley. You will find a great home in your price range, taxes should be under $8,000, it is a beautiful small river town, and I-95 and NJ are five minutes away. Just stay away from properties that sit in between the canal and the river...they are flood prone.

kimrocktherealtor · 08-28-2008, 08:27 PM

I second the Bucks County idea.. but then again, I always suggest bucks

Look in Newtown, Yardley, Lower Makefield, maybe even Richboro/Holland area.. Great schools (council rock, pennsbury), not insane taxes, good amounts of property, awesome neighborhoods, not overrun with malls or fast food etc... Great place to raise a family.

kimrocktherealtor · 08-28-2008, 08:31 PM

For the hell of it I just did a search on the MLS for properties in yardley/newtown that are 350-500k, .50 acres or more, 4 bedrooms+ and 2 full baths+ and there are currently 10 listings. I picked a middle of the road one just to give you an idea, it is $449k, in yardley, .90 acres, 4 beds 2.5 baths and property taxes are 7k a year. Hope that helps give you a realistic idea of whats out there currently!

orrmobl · 08-29-2008, 12:59 PM

I forgot all about Swedesboro, NJ which has a lot of new housing relatively cheaply and puts you in a great position for most commutes...maybe Malvern as well. Collegeville supposedly has the best bang for the buck as far as schools go but Phoenixville and I believe Spring Ford school districts rank higher - this area is booming and should have a good bit of new construction at a fairly affordable price...