Possibly Relocating to Philly, neighborhoods.... (Pittsburgh, Chester: houses, construction, public schools)

[laurenmariern24]

We are possibly relocating to Philly from Pittsburgh. I grew up in Chester County, but VERY far out in the country so I am not familiar with burbs closer to the city. My husband and I are dealing with some serious sticker shock compared to Pittsburgh home prices.

My question is this: Assuming my husband works in CC, is it even possible to find a newer 4BR 2.5BR home with in a 30 minute commute for around 550,000?

NJ is a little tempting, but the taxes are giving my hubby a coronary

I would like to have my cake and eat it too of course but I realize you generally have to choose between the bigger, newer home OR a shorter commute. You don't get both.

Being in the Mainline would be great but probably not affordable, but maybe just outside of it?!

Thanks for any advice!

[arjo]

How far are you willing to commute? $550K would get you into some nice homes in Bucks County.

[laurenmariern24]

How far are you willing to commute? $550K would get you into some nice homes in Bucks County.


Don't care too much about distance, more overall time. 30 minutes would be great. Under 45 min a must. Fortunately, he has the flexibility to commute at somewhat off-peak times (leaving after rush hour, coming home after rush hour)

[MikeNigh]

Pretty sure door to door and under 30 minutes is going to have to be in one of phillys nice inner city neighborhoods.

[RightonWalnut]

Under 30 mins you'll be still within Philly or in New Jersey. Do you have any issues with being in the city? Do you have children. You may like Chestnut Hill and/or West Mt Airy. Especially coming from Pittsburgh.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by MikeNigh

Pretty sure door to door and under 30 minutes is going to have to be in one of phillys nice inner city neighborhoods.

Not true. the Eastern Main Line is still up for grabs, as can be parts of Delaware County and the inner northern suburbs, depending on how far home and work are from the train station.

OP:

You can afford a four bed, two-and-a-half bath home on the inner Main Line, albeit an older one. If you want to be close and live in newer construction, Cherry Hill might be the answer. Taxes are higher in South Jersey, but the fact you can deduct the Philly wage tax from NJ state in come taxes should alleviate some of the shock.

Another option is the Media area of Delaware County (Upper Providence, Nether Providence, Middletown, and Edgmont, though not so much the borough itself, which is mostly older construction), along with nearby Newtown Township. You'll be closer to 45 minutes (and DelCo taxes are no picnic) but you can get reasonably priced newer construction there.

You might like Plymouth Township, Whitemarsh, and Upper Dublin as well (also closer to 45 minutes).

Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill are nice areas. Commute time (whether by train or car) is a bit more than Lower Merion but less than Central DelCo. Public schools aren't great, but you didn't mention that was a concern.

[templeu]

I live in NJ. I can get into city in about 15-20 minutes...especially off-peak. The Ben Franklin Bridge can back up during the AM rush, but when this happens I just take Walt Whitman to I-95, which typically flows. If you live near Patco, then your husband could always take that into the city.

I'm not sure what other criteria you have, but you could for sure find a 4 bed/2.5 bath for 550,000 in NJ, especially in places like Haddon Township, Haddon Heights, or Collingswood. There are a few houses like this on the market now in Haddon Township and I think they are all under 500,000K. It is true that the taxes are high...but I found that the home price does offset this to some extent. The taxes are pretty high in parts of PA as well though.

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by templeu

I'm not sure what other criteria you have, but you could for sure find a 4 bed/2.5 bath for 550,000 in NJ, especially in places like Haddon Township, Haddon Heights, or Collingswood.

I would have suggested each of those (along with Haddonfield) if they hadn't expressed a penchant for newer construction.

[sonyases]

I highly recommend Bucks County. It is a great location, good schools, beautiful scenery and very safe. Excellent place for raising a family. Depending where you are in Bucks, it would be 45 minutes at most to the Mainline.

[Angus215]

It would be hard to get "newer" construction and a 30 minute door-to-door commute, simply because the inner suburbs are old. But, as an example, it is 30 min on the train from Ft Washington, and there is plenty of newer construction within a 10 minute drive from the station.