House Hunting in the philadelphia area (Middletown, Swarthmore: transfer, neighborhoods, to buy)

[KPR0711]

My husband and I are searching for homes in suburbs. We both work in Philly, I in University City and he in center city. We need advice on the best place to buy a home but minimize our commutes. We would love to have 4 beds, at least 2.5 baths, and a decent size yard. Our budget is about 275k-350k but we are able to go a little higher if need be. Having both grown up in the suburbs of bucks & Montgomery counties our vision of what we want is different than what we can afford as we get closer to the city. We plan on starting a family within the next year so school district, family friendly neighborhoods, and access to regional rail would be ideal for us. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[PhillyViaBoston]

You might want to consider communities along the Media/Elwyn SEPTA regional rail line (formerly the R3). That train has stops in both University City (3196 South Street) and Center City (16th & JFK, 11th & Market).

The area has two highly regarded school systems: Wallingford-Swarthmore (which includes Rutledge, Swarthmore, Wallingford, Nether Providence township, and Rose Valley) and Media-RoseTree (which includes Media borough, Upper Providence township, Edgmont and Middletown). I have found the area to be very family friendly.

I just did a quick search at Realtor.com and was able to find quite a few options in these school districts that are in your price range, though mostly toward the higher end. Good luck!

[cpomp]

PhillyViaboston explained everything very well. Those are 2 areas you cant go wrong with. Rose Tree Media may be alittle more expensive, but media does have a great downtown that be travelled to easily from all the towns mentioned. Upper Providence and Edgemont are the 2 most expensive towns and would be a stretch finding a nice 4 bedroom home in that price range. Media and certainly middletown there are a lot of options. Nether providence would also have a good selection.

[tarp]

You are going to need to look in Cherry Hill NJ area. Look at the Brookfield area on Haddonfield-Berlin Road. Best commute and housing in the price range. PATCO line is right there and driving is easy.

[PhillyViaBoston]

Originally Posted by tarp

You are going to need to look in Cherry Hill NJ area. Look at the Brookfield area on Haddonfield-Berlin Road. Best commute and housing in the price range. PATCO line is right there and driving is easy.

Just to be clear, you can take the PATCO line into Center City (stops at 8th & Market, 9th & Locust, 12th & Locust, 15th & Locust) but from any of these locations you'll need another solution to get into University City on public transportation. (Probably the bus since PATCO doesn't connect directly to either subway/trolley line into UCity.)

This SEPTA map should help (it includes the PATCO line):
SEPTA | Clickable Regional Rail & Rail Transit Map

[tom_567]

Actually, there are two easy options to get to the 30th St Station/34th and Market area. You can take the Atlantic City Line from Route 70 in Cherry Hill or Lindenwold PATCO and go directly to 30th Street Station or take PATCO and transfer at 8th Street to the Market Frankford Line (Blue Line).

Also, I second the NJ suggestion. Though the property taxes will be very high in Cherry Hill east, there will likely be tax benefits for you since you both work in the city and can offset your wage tax against your NJ state income tax. You won't have that option in PA and your housing cost for something comparable will likely be higher due to the lower tax burden.

Good luck!