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Old 02-12-2021, 08:47 PM
 
Location: BRONX, NY
21 posts, read 41,297 times
Reputation: 13

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Quote:
Originally Posted by nuts2uiam View Post
I used to be the ARC chairperson here in my community and while I have not worked with all of the above, I will suggest that you consider that more often than not you hear the complaints but not the good experiences. Rather than just go by a list I would suggest that you visit a community that you like and drive through until you see a resident and ask what their experiences were. Then ask several more. No builder, no matter if they are spot building or tract building will have problems. The real measure is how well they respond to the problems and what the problems are. If, for example, they build your home at the bottom of a hill and you have water seeping into the foundation and basement that is entirely different than if they missed a nail on moulding. There are people and there are people. I have seen people pitch a fit over the most insignificant things and then they blast the builder online. Sometimes, not always, it is not the "problem" rather the buyer. This is not to suggest that all builders are good, rather you need to do your home work.
Thanks so much for your insight. Very interesting points you made about builders and people's reviews. I agree 100% that folks do tend to post complaints more often than sharing a good experience. What I pay attention to most is when different reviewers express the exact same problems with a particular builder. Then I feel there is some validity to it.

We do plan to make our first trip to DE soon to visit the different areas and neighborhoods we are interested in to get a real feel and to get the perspective of people who live there. Doing our homework!!
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Old 02-12-2021, 09:11 PM
 
Location: BRONX, NY
21 posts, read 41,297 times
Reputation: 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by Penna76 View Post
I would honestly suggest Lancaster, Pennsylvania over Middletown, Delaware.

Pennsylvania does not tax retirement income. Delaware does. Therefore Pennsylvania is actually ranked as one of the most retirement friendly states in the Northeast. Property taxes can be slightly higher in parts of Pennsylvania.

But few are aware, Delaware had a major legal battle in 2020, and most property taxes across the state will be increasing over the next few years with new reassessments.

Lancaster is a very very nice small/mid size city with large city amenities. Its only about 60 minutes to Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. About the same distance from Philadelphia as is Middletown, DE.

Lancaster has a Whole Foods, Apple Store, Costco, Wegmans, West Elm, Nordstrom Rack, etc. just to give you a sense it has large city amenities.

COL is the same as Middletown, DE and you are still fairly close to the shore.

Lancaster also has direct high frequency Amtrak access to Philadelphia and NYC. And it has Penn Medicine and Penn State health in its vicinity. So top quality healthcare. More so than Delaware.

Just IMO. You would be better off in Lancaster.
Thanks for the valuable feedback because I have read that PA was NOT retirement friendly and have high property taxes.

Our initial 2 states to relocate were VA and DE because they both ranked high on the list (#6 & #7) of best places to retire in the U.S., but we will now explore Lancaster. Thanks for sharing the facts about the large city amenities and healthcare in Lancaster, which are both very important to us.

My experience with Lancaster has only been outlet shopping, Dorney Park, family style dining, the farmer's market and Sight and Sound theater LOL.

I will chime into the PA channel next to see what others are saying about Lancaster.
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Old 02-12-2021, 11:30 PM
 
403 posts, read 291,319 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mizvee2003 View Post
Thanks for the valuable feedback because I have read that PA was NOT retirement friendly and have high property taxes.

Our initial 2 states to relocate were VA and DE because they both ranked high on the list (#6 & #7) of best places to retire in the U.S., but we will now explore Lancaster. Thanks for sharing the facts about the large city amenities and healthcare in Lancaster, which are both very important to us.

My experience with Lancaster has only been outlet shopping, Dorney Park, family style dining, the farmer's market and Sight and Sound theater LOL.

I will chime into the PA channel next to see what others are saying about Lancaster.

You are more than welcome! Property taxes in Pennsylvania really depend on the municipality. In some areas, especially close to Philadelphia, property taxes can be a bit on the higher end.

But in most of Lancaster, they are fairly reasonable. And as I stated previously, Delaware just had a major property tax court ruling, and assessments in the state will be increasing statewide.

With that, Pennsylvania does not tax retirement income. Which is what makes it retirement friendly.

Lancaster really punches above its weight for the size of the metro with some fantastic amenities and assets which make you feel like you are living in a much larger city.

It has an excellent health care network, and the Amtrak service takes the stress out of visiting NYC or Philadelphia for weekend excursions. For example Philadelphia is only 60 minutes on Amtrak and only about $20 each way. Trains run nearly every hour.

I am not sure if you have been to Lancaster City, or just the touristy parts outside of Lancaster.

But Lancaster City is very charming and historic and vibrant. And offers lots to do. (More so than Middletown). There is tons of art studios, restaurants, shops, etc. which make it very charming and distinctive.

I would advise someone to live in Middletown if they worked in Dover and Wilmington and had to split commutes, or had family close by they wanted to be close too.

But overall Middletown is a quiet suburban area and moving from NY I would find it to be a total culture shock in lack of things to do. IMO.

Wilmington is also making progress, but overall is very quiet and offers much less than Lancaster.

Good luck!
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Old 02-13-2021, 07:43 AM
 
Location: BRONX, NY
21 posts, read 41,297 times
Reputation: 13
Thanks so much for your feedback. Yes googling builders is definitely a good way to to weed out the not so great builders because we all know that you can make anything look good virtually lol. I have seen the same awful reviews about Ryan Homes and a few other builders (i.e, Blenheim Homes) , which can be very discouraging. We are weighing the pros and cons of new construction vs. an already established community.

How is your Lancaster search going? Our budget is $350K so I am not sure how much bang we will get for our buck in Lancaster for a townhouse/condo within that budget when there are sooo many moving parts in this homebuying process.

I will definitely let you guys know how it goes once we start visiting various areas. Thanks again for sharing your wisdom.
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Old 02-13-2021, 08:52 AM
 
Location: Former LI'er Now Rehoboth Beach, DE
13,036 posts, read 17,946,799 times
Reputation: 13969
One thing to consider if weather is important. Generally speaking, Pa. gets more snow than De. Again, this past couple of storms have rendered this area with less than 2 inches of snow, but in the Dover area, they got plowable snow.
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Old 02-13-2021, 09:31 AM
 
Location: Delaware Native
9,691 posts, read 14,169,518 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nuts2uiam View Post
One thing to consider if weather is important. Generally speaking, Pa. gets more snow than De. Again, this past couple of storms have rendered this area with less than 2 inches of snow, but in the Dover area, they got plowable snow.
We got less than 2 inches in the Camden/Wyoming area. I believe Smyrna got much more.....the farther north, the more snow. I see snow plows ready to go today (Saturday) sitting under over-passes, just waiting for the first snow flake to drop. I'll be on my way down to Delmar for work, within the next half hour.
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Old 02-13-2021, 01:28 PM
 
Location: BRONX, NY
21 posts, read 41,297 times
Reputation: 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by nuts2uiam View Post
One thing to consider if weather is important. Generally speaking, Pa. gets more snow than De. Again, this past couple of storms have rendered this area with less than 2 inches of snow, but in the Dover area, they got plowable snow.
We are so tired of the super cold and long New York winters and 10 inches of back to back snowstorms. That being said, we know npw that Lancaster is not for us.
Having slightly milder winter months is another reason why we wanted to explore the VA and DE area and still be just a car ride away from my family here in NY.
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Old 02-13-2021, 08:11 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia
2,539 posts, read 2,278,565 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mizvee2003 View Post
We are so tired of the super cold and long New York winters and 10 inches of back to back snowstorms. That being said, we know npw that Lancaster is not for us.
Having slightly milder winter months is another reason why we wanted to explore the VA and DE area and still be just a car ride away from my family here in NY.

Lancaster does get snow and its cold from December - Mid March there.

But it is about the same elevation as Middletown, so it does not get the extreme cold/snow say as the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and relatively they both have the same climate.

Winters are not severe in Lancaster, although you will see more snowfall than Middletown.

It is probably about 5 degrees colder in Lancaster than Middletown on average. But really the two do not have a large difference in climate. Lancaster is more mild than NYC IMO.

I know this because both Middletown and Lancaster are within the Philadelphia media market and are covered in the same weather forecasts.

So they cover the entire metro area, which both are apart of and Middletown is not far south enough to make a big difference from Lancaster with winter temps.

Lancaster probably sees 20 inches of snow a year. Dover probably sees about 10 inches on average a year. Give or take for both.

You really have to go south of DC to start seeing a noticeable climate change for the winter season from the Northeast. IMO

Delaware can get a lot of the Coastal winds that make the winter seem colder than the temperature on your thermometer. So the real feel is actually very similar to the mountains.

The northern/north central portion of Delaware and Southeast Pennsylvania are basically the same climate is what I am saying. So if you want to completely avoid snow, I would say VA is your best bet.

For example with the latest winter snow from this past week, Delaware actually saw more snow than Southeast Pennsylvania.

Do not confuse the Lehigh Valley and Lancaster. ( You mentioned Dorney Park as somewhere you've been but that is not Lancaster that is the Lehigh Valley).

The Lehigh Valley sees a lot more snow because its elevation is much higher and therefore has colder temperatures. Lancaster is about 90 minutes south of the Lehigh Valley and is much more mild in temperature at a low elevation.


Goodluck!!

Last edited by rowhomecity; 02-13-2021 at 08:26 PM..
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Old 02-15-2021, 01:32 PM
 
Location: BRONX, NY
21 posts, read 41,297 times
Reputation: 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by rowhomecity View Post
Lancaster does get snow and its cold from December - Mid March there.

But it is about the same elevation as Middletown, so it does not get the extreme cold/snow say as the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and relatively they both have the same climate.

Winters are not severe in Lancaster, although you will see more snowfall than Middletown.

It is probably about 5 degrees colder in Lancaster than Middletown on average. But really the two do not have a large difference in climate. Lancaster is more mild than NYC IMO.

I know this because both Middletown and Lancaster are within the Philadelphia media market and are covered in the same weather forecasts.

So they cover the entire metro area, which both are apart of and Middletown is not far south enough to make a big difference from Lancaster with winter temps.

Lancaster probably sees 20 inches of snow a year. Dover probably sees about 10 inches on average a year. Give or take for both.

You really have to go south of DC to start seeing a noticeable climate change for the winter season from the Northeast. IMO

Delaware can get a lot of the Coastal winds that make the winter seem colder than the temperature on your thermometer. So the real feel is actually very similar to the mountains.

The northern/north central portion of Delaware and Southeast Pennsylvania are basically the same climate is what I am saying. So if you want to completely avoid snow, I would say VA is your best bet.

For example with the latest winter snow from this past week, Delaware actually saw more snow than Southeast Pennsylvania.

Do not confuse the Lehigh Valley and Lancaster. ( You mentioned Dorney Park as somewhere you've been but that is not Lancaster that is the Lehigh Valley).

The Lehigh Valley sees a lot more snow because its elevation is much higher and therefore has colder temperatures. Lancaster is about 90 minutes south of the Lehigh Valley and is much more mild in temperature at a low elevation.


Goodluck!!
Thanks a bunch for the detailed response and the comparison of Lancaster VS Middletown winter weather conditions...very interesting and informative. So we may need to add Lancaster back to our relocation/retirement list.

I will be sure to post the updates. Stay safe!
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Old 02-17-2021, 10:44 AM
 
Location: SE Pennsylvania
6 posts, read 5,835 times
Reputation: 15
Default Delaware builders

Quote:
Originally Posted by Seaponies View Post
Another thing you may want to do is to research the builders' reviews onliine beforehand to weed out ones that are risky. I've been doing research and have ruled out Ryan, insight,NV, Hovnanian and Schell to name a few. These are all very well known and although there are many satisfied homeowners, there are quite a few recent reviews that have me ruling them out. I don't want to deal with shoddy workmanship and/or poor support.
Could you share any fairly reputable builders in Delaware that you have discovered?

Thanks!
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