Purchasing a Home in DelCo (Chester, Springfield: 2015, house, buy)

[joyceandsamlee]

I would like some advise about purchasing a home in Delaware county.

I was told that depending on the town I could be paying a lot of property taxes. My family and I are planning on staying in the area long term. Hopefully 20 years or more. I am looking for good school district and an decent commute. ( I work in claymont DE and my wife works in Unversity city). We will both be driving. I have heard good things about the Rose Tree- Media district as well as the Nether Providence District.

Are there any other areas people would recommend? Are property taxes really that High that if i live in a home for 20+ years i can possibly be paying 2-3 times value @ the time of purchase?

Are there nay areas people would avoid? I know that some people have told me to stay away from boothwyn, aston, and chester.

Thanks

[RVA_DELCO]

Hey, here's a tax breakout for Delco that I found useful:

http://www.co.delaware.pa.us/treasurer/TaxRate2015.pdf

Property taxes are bananas and some localities have an additional wage tax to look out for (Which would be on top of the wage tax your wife would pay just for working in Philly), but I think you're looking in a reasonable area for commuting. Maybe add Springfield or Swarthmore to the list. I don't drive to work, but I would imagine that it's a bonus to be near 476/95. My wife commuted for a bit from closer in (We're at the edge bit of Aldan/Collingdale/Clifton Heights/Yeadon/Darby, where the puzzle fits together, non-contiguous Upper Darby) and the worst part is navigating through Delco to get to 95.

[cpomp]

Who on earth told you to avoid Aston and why? I really don't understand how people think...

Aston Township falls just under the prestigious towns of Delaware County, the demographics are similar to that of Marple/Broomall and Springfield. The township has a huge mix of housing, solid middle/upper middle class, a very strong business tax base, and Penn Delco School District is also solid.

Aston actually falls pretty evenly between the two places of work.

[blinkme323]

Havertown and Broomall may be worth looking in to.

[Burger Fan]

Originally Posted by joyceandsamlee

I would like some advise about purchasing a home in Delaware county.

I was told that depending on the town I could be paying a lot of property taxes. My family and I are planning on staying in the area long term. Hopefully 20 years or more. I am looking for good school district and an decent commute. ( I work in claymont DE and my wife works in Unversity city). We will both be driving. I have heard good things about the Rose Tree- Media district as well as the Nether Providence District.

I live in nether providence. it's a good town. Taxes are pretty damned high. Media is mostly the same thing (different school district but both are excellent) but property taxes are about half as much. Look there first.

Are there any other areas people would recommend? Are property taxes really that High that if i live in a home for 20+ years i can possibly be paying 2-3 times value @ the time of purchase?

Uh, property taxes are high but not THAT high. my home is currently worth somewhere in the upper 300 to low 400 range (though it was bought for less than this in 2012) and I pay about 6K a year in property taxes. high, but not THAT high- and nether providence is one of the pricier towns you'd be looking at. It's important to realize that property tax is levied based on the "assessed" value of the house, not the sold or appraised value. A house you buy for 300K may be assessed at half that much, depending on when the last time an assessment was done. If there's been any large recent improvements (a neighbor had a MASSIVE addition added onto his home a few years ago) the assessment is going to be a lot closer to the "actual" value than an older home that hasn't been touched since the 80s.


Remember property tax is also deductible at the end of the year from your federal taxes so its not really that big of a deal if you itemize. I rarely think about it these days.

Are there nay areas people would avoid? I know that some people have told me to stay away from boothwyn, aston, and chester.

Thanks

That's a pretty wide selection of territory you have there. Chester is a warzone. Boothwyn is average to "in decline" depending on who you ask (mostly depending on how close you are to chester) and aston is perfectly fine.

[grm215]

The western edge of Aston is Garnet Valley School District, which is ranked higher than Penn Delco, but this also seems to be reflected in property values.