Delaware County (Levittown, Chester, Sharon: best town, rent, new house)

[ecrowe1218]

My family and I are currently looking to buy a house. We currently rent in NE Philly and were looking in Bucks County but decided to check into Delaware county as a possibility. We have 2 young kids so schools are a huge deciding factor. Also, staying close to the Jersey bridges is important because my boyfriend works in West Berlin, NJ. We were looking into Sharon Hill, Folcroft, Collingdale, Ridley Park, etc...I am very open to other areas as long as they are not too far from the bridges. Btw, How is the traffic during rush hour towards Jersey?

[templeu]

What type of budget are you working with? If good schools are a big deal for you, you should cross off Sharon Hill, Folcroft, and Collingdale. They all feed into South East Delco..which is about one of the worst districts in PA, unfortunately. Ridley is better that South East Delco. But, if you're looking for a bang up, highly rated school district in Delaware County, you're going to be looking at Wallingford/Swarthmore district, Media district (Media, Middletown), and I think Garnet Valley is supposed to be really good. There is a neighborhood not too far from Ridley, called Rutledge. They are considered part of Wallingford/Swarthmore school district, but the homes are more affordable. You might want to check Rutledge out.

Alternatively - why not just look at NJ? Are you tied to the PA side. You could get something affordable in Audubon, Haddon Township, or Barrington and be in a good school district as well as be close to West Berlin.

[cpomp]

If you have a limited budget, ridley would be your best bet, because it is an affordable community, with a fairly strong school district. Avoid, Sharon Hill, Folcroft, Collingdale, Yeadon, Chester, Upland, aldan, eddystone, basically that whole area is shaky, ridley being the only exception. The best deal you can get for a good school district, would be to buy in aston or brookhaven, they make up penn delco school district, which is a good district, a step up from ridley, step below the top districts in the county. Brookhaven is very affordable, pre 1960s homes, aston is more expensive with more options of new construction and less 1960 housing. The best districts are Rose Tree Media, which is the media area, Garnet Valley, Radnor, MArple Newtown, Wallingford Swarthmore, haverford, springfield, and Chadds Ford Unionville. you cant go wrong with any of these, however these areas can be very pricy. My top choice would be either rose tree media, media is a great area, with a walkable downtown, or garnet valley which is a lot of big new house and families.

[ecrowe1218]

I wouldnt mind moving to Jersey if their taxes came down some and not constantly increasing. The price that we are trying to not go above is 160, which I know is not very high but we are trying to do it off of one income. Do you know how traffic is because when I even mention Delco to family, the give me this shocked expression and say it will take my boyfriend longer to get to work. IMO if we were looking in Levittown, why not look into Delco since it is the same distance mileage wise to my boyfriends work.

[templeu]

It depends on where you wind up in Delco. I'd plan for no less than a 45 minute commute - up to a regular commute of an hour in rush hour; more if there are delays or accidents on I-95.

Taxes for a 160K house in towns in S. Jersey compared to some of the places you'd look at in PA would be roughly 1-2K more a year. In S.J. you'd be looking at anywhere between 4-6K / year in taxes on a 160K house. In some of the places in Delco you'd look at, in you're price range you'd be looking at about 3K-5K / year (depending on the specific town).

However, the further out you live, you then have to factor in the cost of gas + tolls. I'm not sure - but that might wind up equaling 2K / year.

Also, you have to take into account state income tax. PA has a flat income tax, everyone pays 3.5% on their income tax, regardless of income level. In NJ the income tax is graduated. So, you won't be 3.5% until you start earning $35,000. New Jersey Income Tax Rates - New Jersey & other state tax rates information. NJ tax calculator.

You can find fairly similar houses in Brookhaven PA and Barrington NJ; cape style 3 bed 1 bath (single homes) with small yards. Both in the 160K range. In Barrington you're looking at a 5K tax bill in Brookhaven around a 3ishK tax bill. However, in Barrington, your kids go to Haddon Heights school district (very good SD) and your husband is about 10 minutes from work, rather than 45.

[Northbound81]

You also save a lot of money on bridge tolls, probably a $1000 a year, by living in NJ if you work there. I would take Haddon Heights or Barrington or even West Berlin any day over the parts of Delaware County where you can get a house for $160k. Anything decent in Delco we are talking $250k+ for a single family house. In Jersey you can find decent places in the mid 100's.

[cpomp]

I would agree with the posters above, while the PA burbs overall are better area for schooling and neighborhoods, NJ suburbs are much cheaper with good schools as well. For 160k you could find a much better deal, for 160k in delco towns that fit your budget would be darby ridley etc, which are on shaky ground, brookhaven is the best town for that price on the Pa side, which is ok, its in a good school district, and borders nicer towns, but brookhaven itself is eh. So i suggest NJ unless you are set on PA, if so, i can help you more then.