Can't afford Abington/Glenside... any other suggestions? (Springfield, Willow Grove: houses, neighborhoods)

[maestro]

hello all,

My wife and I have been looking at houses for about 2 months now and we really like Glenside and parts of Abington Township. We love the older homes, the nice little community feel of the neighborhoods, and the schools (we have a little one that will be starting school soon). Unfortunately, the areas we like are just too expensive. Our budget is roughly $300k, and that will only get you a 1100 sq foot house with $5000 property taxes in Glenside. We could go to Roslyn or Willow Grove, but we feel that has a decidedly different vibe that Glenside and Abington proper.

So... where else should we look? Some people have suggested Amber and Hatboro. I don't really know anything about those areas. Thoughts? Where should we look that would be similar to what we like about Glenside?

[bambiying]

I was thinking Hatboro as well. The center of Hatboro has a nice, small town feel to it.

[ooodsie]

Have you looked into Langhorne? Theres a small center of town w/ older houses and you could get a 3 bedroom house for your budget.

[JasmineFlower]

Originally Posted by maestro

hello all,

My wife and I have been looking at houses for about 2 months now and we really like Glenside and parts of Abington Township. We love the older homes, the nice little community feel of the neighborhoods, and the schools (we have a little one that will be starting school soon). Unfortunately, the areas we like are just too expensive. Our budget is roughly $300k, and that will only get you a 1100 sq foot house with $5000 property taxes in Glenside. We could go to Roslyn or Willow Grove, but we feel that has a decidedly different vibe that Glenside and Abington proper.

So... where else should we look? Some people have suggested Amber and Hatboro. I don't really know anything about those areas. Thoughts? Where should we look that would be similar to what we like about Glenside?

Can I ask what size house you are looking for? I don't know that you'll get much more sqft in those areas (Ambler especially) than you would in Glenside. I like Ambler and really like the Wissahickon SD. I'm a bigger fan of Horsham than of Hatboro, but understand there's a price difference. You can also check to see if there are some homes available in the Springfield school district, which includes a small part of Glenside, Flourtown, Oreland, Erdenheim and Wyndmoor. There wouldn't be a ton in your price range, but its certainly worth checking. Same is true with Lafayette Hill and Plymouth Meeting in the the Plymouth Whitemarsh school district (think its called Colonial on RE sites), not a ton in your price range, but should be a few and worth checking.