Can anyone provide information about Drexel Hill? (Springfield, Broomall: appointed, condos)

[templeu]

My husband and I have been house-hunting. After deciding for various reasons against downtown, we've narrowed our search to certain sections of Delaware County. We want to be a reasonable commute to Center City Phila (Temple U, and Camden); by reasonable I mean 30-35 minutes on a typical day. Our range is anywhere b/t 350-460K. We've been looking at houses that are at least 2500 sq feet with about 4 bed, 2 bath and most of these have .6+ acre of a yard. We've been focusing on Media and Broomall, but have been pretty disappointed with the inventory in even the upper limits of our price range. There are houses out there, but they are often in bad condition, many seem overpriced, and we're just not willing to overpay in this market. So, we've started looking at the Aronimink section of Drexel Hill. I grew up in the Delaware County area - moved away - and came back - and have heard less than desirable things about Upper Darby H.S. (I have family that went there). The taxes in Drexel Hill area high. But it is pretty conveniently located to downtown, the mainline, and Media. The houses in the Aronomink section are also quite beautiful and the area seems very well maintained. You get much more for the $$ compared to Media or Broomall.

Can you all give me some info on this area? Is it going downhill? A place to stay away from? Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

[Tone509]

Originally Posted by templeu

My husband and I have been house-hunting. After deciding for various reasons against downtown, we've narrowed our search to certain sections of Delaware County. We want to be a reasonable commute to Center City Phila (Temple U, and Camden); by reasonable I mean 30-35 minutes on a typical day. Our range is anywhere b/t 350-460K. We've been looking at houses that are at least 2500 sq feet with about 4 bed, 2 bath and most of these have .6+ acre of a yard. We've been focusing on Media and Broomall, but have been pretty disappointed with the inventory in even the upper limits of our price range. There are houses out there, but they are often in bad condition, many seem overpriced, and we're just not willing to overpay in this market. So, we've started looking at the Aronimink section of Drexel Hill. I grew up in the Delaware County area - moved away - and came back - and have heard less than desirable things about Upper Darby H.S. (I have family that went there). The taxes in Drexel Hill area high. But it is pretty conveniently located to downtown, the mainline, and Media. The houses in the Aronomink section are also quite beautiful and the area seems very well maintained. You get much more for the $$ compared to Media or Broomall.

Can you all give me some info on this area? Is it going downhill? A place to stay away from? Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

I use to live in Upper Darby, just blocks away from Drexel Hill from the mid-90's to about 2002. I would say that there is a fairly distinct difference between Drexel Hill and its neighbors in Lansdowne, Upper Darby and Clifton Heights. Property taxes in Delaware County tend to be high as a rule, so there's no escaping that. The trade-off is relatively lower asking prices relative to Montgomery County.

From my observation, Upper Darby High School was as socioeconomically diverse as any suburban high school that I've seen. Whether or not you see that as a positive, it does seem like a fair amount of neighborhood parents choose to invest in sending their kids to the parochial schools down the street. Visiting with the UDHS principal would probably help you in your decision.

I say if the price is right and you're prepared to pay the taxes, then Drexel Hill would be a good choice.

[templeu]

Thanks Tone. I should say, school district doesn't affect us personally (we don't have kids and probably won't). But we understand school districts, or perceptions thereof, affect resale... so that's the only reason we even consider the quality of the school. I came out of the South East Delco School district...which some rate as about the lowest in Delco and I turned out just fine Personally, I think people can sometimes make too much of a fuss about school districts - good students with supportive parents can flourish almost anywhere (but maybe I'd change my tune if I had little ones). My concern about Drexel Hill was more so whether this was a stable neighborhood, on the decline? or even potentially a good investment (it is so close to the city after all!).

[Tone509]

Originally Posted by templeu

Thanks Tone. I should say, school district doesn't affect us personally (we don't have kids and probably won't). But we understand school districts, or perceptions thereof, affect resale... so that's the only reason we even consider the quality of the school. I came out of the South East Delco School district...which some rate as about the lowest in Delco and I turned out just fine Personally, I think people can sometimes make too much of a fuss about school districts - good students with supportive parents can flourish almost anywhere (but maybe I'd change my tune if I had little ones). My concern about Drexel Hill was more so whether this was a stable neighborhood, on the decline? or even potentially a good investment (it is so close to the city after all!).

OK, I understand the connection between school reputation and home resale value. I also agree that motivated students and parents can thrive at almost any school.

I can't say for certain how things may have changed since I left in 2002... but at that time my opinion was that Drexel Hill was certainly the best of many communities immediately surrounding it. Check out Springfield; I don't know how it compares to, say, Broomall in pricing but I believe the town's reputation is pretty positive.

[soulsurv]

You'd be hard-pressed to find .5 of an acre in Drexel hill. While I admit that many of the homes are in what look to be stellar neighborhoods and are architecturally pleasing, I still say the taxes are absolutely OBSCENE! I would choose Media over Drexel Hill any day of the week. Have you checked out the Middletown and Upper Providence sections of Media?

[templeu]

I agree, in addition to taxes, lot size would be a definite trade off if we chose Drexel Hill over Media. I think about this biggest lot we found was .3. But for the price, we're willing to at least take a look. I'm still not sure that I can sacrifice on lot size, but for the right area could potentially be convinced.

Actually, two of the houses that we have liked the most so far in our search were in Middletown. Taxes tend to trend just a bit higher there compared to Upper Providence (e.g., in 460K range, Middletown homes are about 6500/year vs 5600/year in UP). But we were finding many of the homes in UP were still on well water and septic. Probably not a big deal, but we are both completely ignorant of those systems and weren't sure how comfortable we felt with well water in particular. We looked at a home in Middeltown that really caught our eye, on a beautiful 1+ acre lot. But the seller just won't negotiate with us (meaning won't come down off of the asking price at all). And based on the surrounding comps we can't offer what they want. Like I mentioned earlier, we just refuse to overpay for a home right now. It's been a much more frustrating search than I expected to say the least...given how everyone keeps raving about how it's a buyers market.

[solibs]

I realize that you're from DelCo and that's why you're looking there but just going on what you wrote, the first two places that come to mind are
1.Collingswood/Westmont
2. Mt. Airy
3. Jenkintown/Abington.

I'm not saying that it's not a buyers market here but a lot of people watch the national news and read about the housing market collapse in places like Florida, California, Arizona, etc. We didn't have that collapse here. I think the only sub-markets in the Philly metro that were over-heated were at the Shore and the Center City, luxury condo market. There was no speculative market here so when the bottom fell out of the mortgage industry we weren't stuck with thousands upon thousands of brand new, uninhabited houses and condos.

My point is - prices haven't gone down here as much as some people might have hoped and in some sub-markets prices have started to creep back up again.

[chessimprov]

Drexel Hill is a nice place to live, and I don't think you could lose by living there. I don't personally like the district even though they have a decent name for themselves. The students I've encountered there, some of them are your typical teenagers and I saw nothing particularly stellar about the district or the students themselves. I'm sure there are stellar students as in any district, but for my short experience, not impressed.

[soulsurv]

Originally Posted by templeu

I agree, in addition to taxes, lot size would be a definite trade off if we chose Drexel Hill over Media. I think about this biggest lot we found was .3. But for the price, we're willing to at least take a look. I'm still not sure that I can sacrifice on lot size, but for the right area could potentially be convinced.

Actually, two of the houses that we have liked the most so far in our search were in Middletown. Taxes tend to trend just a bit higher there compared to Upper Providence (e.g., in 460K range, Middletown homes are about 6500/year vs 5600/year in UP). But we were finding many of the homes in UP were still on well water and septic. Probably not a big deal, but we are both completely ignorant of those systems and weren't sure how comfortable we felt with well water in particular. We looked at a home in Middeltown that really caught our eye, on a beautiful 1+ acre lot. But the seller just won't negotiate with us (meaning won't come down off of the asking price at all). And based on the surrounding comps we can't offer what they want. Like I mentioned earlier, we just refuse to overpay for a home right now. It's been a much more frustrating search than I expected to say the least...given how everyone keeps raving about how it's a buyers market.

I am just a FREAK for Middletown (but can't afford it). What a shame that the foolish seller won't budge. His loss. no one is getting full asking price from what i've seen. Linvilla Orchards has so many cool things going on - and there's a nice swim club nearby, It's one of the few places left in the county with some pretty open space (even horses).

I thought that UP was mandated to hook up to public sewers in the near future. You may want to check with the township on that.

I wish you well and the best of luck on your search. hang in there; something's bound to turn up.

[ApartmentNomad]

I have two nieces who went to Upper Darby high school. Both went on to win at least partial scholarships to well-respected liberal arts colleges.

I remember looking at the syllabus for a literature class (probably advanced) one was taking, and noticing books I did not read until I was in college. The sheer quantity of reading assigned was also quite challenging. My impression is that the school has pretty high standards.

It is a very diverse student body (racially and ethnically), which I think both my nieces enjoyed and perhaps benefited from (in terms of learning to relate to people from different backgrounds).

It is an extremely large high school. Some people thrive better in that sort of environment than others.