Hope this will help, Thanks!! (Penn: real estate, apartment, rent)

[Rangers2008]

When are you moving? no time frame yet
Where are you coming from? Long Island, NY
Why are you moving? high taxes, insane house prices
Where will you be working? dont know
Have you been here yet? Yes, love it

Will you buy or rent? buy
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? house, townhouse
king for an apartment, a townhouse or loft?
How much can you spend? 200-300K


Are you married or single? Do you have children? Will eventually have kids
efer public or private schools? publc
Do you have pets? No
Do you want or need a yard? No
Are you keeping a car? yes
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? a little bit of both

What do you want to be closest to? All of the above!!
Work
Shopping
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.)
Nightlife
Train or subway stations


Read more: //www.city-data.com/forum/phila...#ixzz0TSiI1pHx

[Max America]

Do you prefer city or a more suburban feel. For 200-300k you have a lot of options that fit all these criteria. In the city I can recommend, Bella Vista, Queen Village, Pennsport, Passyunk Square and Northern Liberties. If looking at houses use zip codes 19147 and 19123. I am not too familiar with the suburbs so someone else Im sure can help you out there.

[Rangers2008]

Definitly looking for a city feel, I was looking at Northern Liberties on some realtor sites, there are some nice houses on there. I am into the whole row house thing. We are coming to Philly possibly in Nov/Dec to just get an idea, looking at specific areas. Hopefully we might be able to speak maybe a real estate agent while we are there. Do you know anything about the schools in those areas? I heard that they are not really up to par. Thanks in advance for your help.

[newmarlig]

The Meredith School in Queen Village has an excellent reputation. Just be sure you aree in the catchment area for that school. I think the area will well suit your needs.

[solibs]

First, you should really rent for 6 months to a year to really get to know the city. You might find that a certain neighborhood is more important to you than housing style or vice-versa. You might find yourself at home in South Philly or maybe up in Mt. Airy, you just never know.

If you don't have kids yet (and don't have one on the way) then you have at least 6 years before you need to worry about schools and at least 14 years before you need to worry about high schools.

I'm just saying, $300k, gets you a 200 year old trinity in Queen Village (3 rooms - about 550 s/f).

I would concentrate on finding a house in a neighborhood that suits you. When the time comes, if you're not satisfied with your neighborhood school, look into the charter system.

[Rangers2008]

Yes that is very good advice. Thank you.