NEW HERE, & looking for some feedback (Wilmington, Newark: to rent, movers)

[nancy361]

Hi to all.
Im a new poster here and have read about 19 pages from this forum. Wanted to get some ideas from all the areas of interest for possible move to DEL.
My husband, myself and 15yr old son live in clifton heights, PA. just over the border in delaware county. H works at swarthmore college as a chef and he would be doing the commuting. I travel back and forth to A.I. Dupont hosp as that is where my son sees his specialists. its a 30 min drive door to door and very easy at that. My dad moved to Del. a few yrs back, they lived in Springmill 55 and over comm. on 301 in middletown for 2yrs and hated it. so they moved just a couple of yrs ago to down the rd off of 71 to lakeside development. they love it and middletown. I have heard that towns school district is good too. My son is now in upper darby school district( its an ok school ) here in our town. he just started 9th gr which is high school. has adjusted just fine.

I also have a brother who has moved from swarthmore PA area to Rehoboth beach about 7-8yrs ago. they had a home built in maplewoods development i think. very close to outlets. they love it there. he works for state dept and she works for law firm in georgetown.

so needless to say 1 is in sussex and 1 in new castle cnty.
Brother has discussed to me about the school districts and how they are state run and that some schools are better then others due to where you live. the more rural areas may not be so good due to not enough money and parental input, the areas like where he is are better due to more professional parents and more money to go towards education in schools and wanting more for their kids.

If we move to DE, schools are a factor to me. Itll be hard enough to move a 15yrold boy away from what he knows let alone throwing him into a new school and meeting new kids .

H and I are trying to be realistic in what we can afford and where we would like to be.We Really arent into the DEVELOPMENT type homes , we would like to have a single with a decent amount of space between the next house. ideally an acre or 2 would be great, Id love a farm actually, but i have to think of my son too and having kids in the area to get to know and hang out with. plus its way too much im sure

As i have read here, a lot of potential movers as i do, dont know the towns. i have a map that i look at and a list of all the towns etc. But who knows what they are like? i havent a clue. i can see where they are on a map but have no idea if its family and kid friendly or half that and half rural and what school district and if its a decent one and all safe of course.

I have looked at wanting to be NORTH or above 95. when i see the point that 95 enters DEL. i follow it all the way to just below newark. so ALL those towns listed on the map that are above 95 and east to west part of state.

I did just a bit so far of looking at the data and median incomes of homes etc. and its apparent that anything north near PA line in brandywine area and east and west of that is WAY out of our price...
Newark has had several good posts . But then i hear about towns in and around newark.
I look online at realtor sites just to see what homes and where if any in our price range and i get listings that say , newark-woodland trail or taylortowne, brookside birchwood park westhover briargate..... this is what i mean... i have no idea where these places are and what they are about, schools etc. This is all new castle county area and they seem to have different districts. colonial, red clay, christina.....
I also saw posts here that say salem woods or prices corner or rockwood etc...

My town here , is clifton heights, the county is delaware county the city is philade.

SO if i thought on Newark, which there were a lot of homes from 175K and under which is where im at ..the listing might say wilmington/new castle/red lion/ glasgow things like that.

I know, this is long and no real question asked yet. sorry, i dont meant to go on but i am wanting to sort of be thorough in my thoughts, so i can get as much feedback as i can...

Like i mentioned, H will be doing the commuting from whatever town we decide to, up 95 to PA. to his job.. he said he is willing to drive 45 min or hour if heavy traffic as long as we have a place that has some openness in property and not on top of other homes and noise and people...
I told him he needs to be realistic in that our price range now for 1st time buyers , isnt going to get us an acre and a house that needs TLC. we love fixing things and so a fixer upper is not a problem...

I guess ill leave it at that for now and see what kind of replys i get....
Thanks to all you locals ahead of time

[ltdontcare]

I guess people were being polite. You might just stay where you are. You won't get much for $175, above the canal. If you can find something in that price range, you (I) wouldn't want to live there. I don't think you will find much below the ditch either, the prices have jumped a lot over the past 10 yrs. If you get too far into DE, your husband's drive will be worse than 45+ min.

[Gone-2-Beach]

Originally Posted by ltdontcare

I guess people were being polite. You might just stay where you are. You won't get much for $175, above the canal. If you can find something in that price range, you (I) wouldn't want to live there. I don't think you will find much below the ditch either, the prices have jumped a lot over the past 10 yrs. If you get too far into DE, your husband's drive will be worse than 45+ min.

Yes, I've found that most people who live in Delaware are polite. That's one of the things that attracts me to the state. Of course, like anywhere else, there are always a few who are less than polite. But they are not representative of Delaware.

I hope you will feel free to ask all the questions that you need to ask in order to get the information you need.

Charley

[nancy361]

Yea I know its not a whole lot of money that we can afford now, but where we rent a home its getting bad and with the market the way it is and 1st time buyers having a better chance to buy, we thought it would be a good time.
I have seen homes under that price in Newark area... near the college. isnt that a decent area? Ive read so much of different posts here on lots of different subjects, and it seems that newark area was rated pretty good. yes ideally id like to stay north of 95 and maybe closer to MD border. i know further south and away from beaches is less exp. but then its a longer drive.

The towns and surrounding areas is what i was asking about. if anyone knew if 1 area is better then another in and around newark? and what school districts are in and around that area, and if anyone knew if they were decent schools or not.....is it at least a safe place to live as opposed to being IN wilmington... I know to stay far away from the city areas... I like rural but i have to think of my teen son too .

Thats the tough part about moving to a new area, you know NOTHING about it and dont know people that live there so cant really ask... With these forums , it gives you some feel of what people that actually live there think, in all areas and topics and that helps.

[rdlr]

Hi Nancy,
Well, I don't know much about schools in the Newark, Northern Delaware areas. They keep building all the time, up there. I do know that houses with an acre or so of land, cost quite a bit up there....the farther north, the more money. Sounds to me like you should find a Realtor, who will first have you prequalified. After that, he/she will make a list of your requirements, then show you what you are qualified to buy. Sorry I can't be more help.

[ltdontcare]

You are in a tough price range. Even condo's in that range might not be so nice. You might want to rent month to month here so you could beat the streets until you found that not so nice house in an ok development. Even if you do, it would be a 1700 square footer on 1/4 acre. Not exactly a farmette...

[Sweetwater]

- Look at Arden, Ardentown, Ardencroft - variety of homes - northern Delaware -easier commute to Swathmore - try to get into a charter school. Delaware Military Academy, Wilmington Charter ( very competitive) - actually Concord, Brandywine & Mt Pleasant High Scools are too bad

[onthink]

Money is always a problem, and it is what you have to consider most.
If you can resolve it, the decision will be much easier.