Moving to Philadelphia, need advice for living (Washington, Horsham: townhouse, transfer to)

[cwstrees]

I am going to move to Philadelphia in the next couple months. I am looking for a nice place for family. I have two boys. One is in first grade and the other is 2.5 years old. I need three bedrooms. My budget is $300K. I don't mind to stay in townhouse now. Because my office is in Bristol. My wife is an auditor. She will transfer to Philly office too. Therefore, she doesn't know where her client might be. I am lookinf for somewhere fitting my budget, with good school district and easy to get into highway. I am searching Horsham area based on my friend's suggestion now. Does anyone have any suggestion? Thank you for your help.

[ajb842]

Since your office is in Bristol, maybe check out Newtown, but you could probably only get a townhouse for under 300K. You might also want to check out Jamison and Doylestown. The commute to Philly from those two places would be far though, however council rock schools are excellent. Newtown is easier, also check out Richboro, Huntingdon Valley(Bucks county) and Holland. These are all Bucks County schools which are good. Access to the city would be relatively easy with 95 nearby.

[MoorestownResident]

Bristol is right on the PA/NJ border, you should look along the Rt 130 corridor in Burlington Twp, NJ (not Burlington City), on up to Florence. That corridor is being redeveloped and presents a good longer term buying opportunity. Schools in these towns are acceptable plus you'll have access to two bridges, 295 and the NJ Turnpike and an easy commute to PA. You might find 3 bedrooms for 300K in those areas as they are less expensive than some of the surrounding towns.

[BPP1999]

You might also want to check out Warminster, Hatboro (which is in Montgomery County), or Langhorne. You should be able to find townhomes in these areas for $300k.

[cwstrees]

Thank you for these advice. I will check those area out.

[orrmobl]

Buy a home in one of these and you'll be golden.

1. Central Bucks schools
2. New Hope-Solebury schools
3. Council Rock schools

All in the Top 20 districts out of all of PA!

[cwstrees]

My wife is going to work in one client's site in Valley Forge. We are looking for the house in Horsham area. I heard that Hatboro-Horsham school is also pretty good. Any suggestions? Thank you for all your help. This site is really great.

[orrmobl]

4. Central Bucks
10. Lower Moreland
11. Upper Dublin
13. Lower Merion
16. New Hope-Solebury
20. Council Rock
23. Methacton
33. Abington
38. Hatboro Horsham

Depends on how good you want/need...I personally would go for as high on this list as possible that still makes commuting possible...

[Philly Dave]

Ambler is a nice community with a terrific school district (Wissahickon), where you could afford to get a house for $300K. It is also situated about evenly between Bristol and Valley Forge, and it is very close to the PA Turnpike exit at Fort Washington, which would allow you to get to either of those places. It also has the added advantage of being right next to Horsham (the town suggested by your friend) without having the outrageous property taxes that Horsham has -- yet the schools are just as good.

[ooodsie]

If your wife is in Bristol and you will be in Phila I would really suggest Holland/Newtown area (council rock schools). I just sold a townhome in Newtown (3 bedrooms, decent size house w garage) for $319k. Low taxes too.