Moving back into the area.. Suggestions? (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre: real estate, 2014, apartment)

[ConfusingRotary]

When are you moving? - Summer 2014
Where are you coming from? - North Jersey
Why are you moving? - to buy a home
Where will you be working? - telecommute / unimportant
Have you been here yet? - we lived in Sellersville a few years ago

Will you buy or rent? - buy
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? - house or condo is fine. It's a starter home, so let's keep it under $250k (our actual limit is 450k but I don't want to go near it). 3 br 1.5 bath minimum.
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend? N/A, but we pay about $2k/mo currently.
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? Walk up

Do you have a preference of living in a NJ or PA suburb? - PA

Are you married or single? Do you have children? - Married, three kids, one in K, another in K next year.
Do you prefer public or private schools? - public
Do you have pets? - cat and a medium dog
Do you want or need a yard? - yes, even if it's half acre
Are you keeping a car? - yes, we have two.
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? - CALM

What do you want to be closest to? - Basic services and shopping. We aren't party people, so nightlife is not an issue.

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? - similar age/race. I'd really rather NOT be in a religious area. We're both very Anglo-American culturally.. Yankee if you will (and I don't mean the baseball team)

Coke or Pepsi? - Coke!



Ok guys, it's been a few years since we've lived in the area, but my wife and I both want to move back if we can find the right home. So far we've checked out the areas around Quakertown, Perkasie, Sellersville, Souderton, Telford, Harleysville, Chalfont, New Britain, and Doylestown. D-town is probably our favorite, but it's a wee bit over priced to me. As long as we're in driving distance for day trips, I'm good.

The other towns, we have no major preference. We have family in the Scranton area, so access to 476 is a (pretty small) concern. Other than that, we need good public schools (hopefully a smaller school district?), nice friendly families, and access to parks/nature. We spent a lot of time at Lake Nockamixon when we lived here last time.

We're looking for some suggestions. Right now we live so far north in NJ that we don't suffer from the heavy traffic problems. We'd like to keep it that way! I think the most limiting factor for us is the budget I've set of $250k. As this will be a starter home, I don't want to go too crazy. I realize the area isn't cheap, but there must be a few more towns to look at...right?!

For what it's worth, I have some family in Downingtown as well, and my job is located in. NYC (although I rarely go in -- once every few months).

So... Sell me on your town! Or feel free to ask me more specifics.

[baldue1]

Pennsylvania has some of the highest property taxes in the world many times exceeding the entire value of the house.

[maf763]

I hope you'll ignore the silly previous post. The towns you mention are pretty similar in terms of what you are looking for. Chalfont and New Britain are close to Doylestown, Peace Valley park, and both have a train station on the regional rail. Personally, I like the small Perkasie downtown area and I like look of the borough. As you get closer to Philly on the map, you'll find housing developments that have been carved out of previous farmland, some of which are pretty pricey. Quakertown is a more congested area with tons of strip malls.

[ConfusingRotary]

Any word on Pennsburg? The school ratings look good and the total class size of the high school seems more reasonable for Upper Perkiomen (closer to 1k students vs 2k in others nearby). There are a bunch of newer homes and townhomes over there it seems, although I'm not sure of their overall quality.

What about areas west of philly that I may just be unaware of?

[motherofpearls]

Quakertown - too hicky
Perkasie, Sellersville - very country, not too much going on.
Harleysville - cookie cutter suburbia, but barely any real estate under 250.
Doylestown - the best of the bunch, has decent downtown, and some life to it. Con - too far out there and surrounded by nothing.

Yes, taxes in PA are very high, but NJ is is even worse, so I guess that does make us feel a lil better, doesn't it? ))

[ConfusingRotary]

Too hicky, eh? I'm from Lemon, PA, north of Tunkhannock, which is 26 miles from Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. I'm not sure you know what hicks are!