where to buy a house (Springfield, Ardmore: for sale, to rent, crime)

[tscherm1]

I work in Ridley Park and my fiance goes to school at the University of the Arts, in downtown Philly. We're looking to buy an affordable house in the 175,000-230,000 range. We're looking for a safe area, with a good school district. We have just started looking in the south jersey area, but the taxes are so high, and I'd rather we not have to pay the toll for the bridge daily. Does anyone have any suggestions of areas to look in PA, Jersey, or even Delaware? Obviously that range isn't going to get us a mansion, but we're looking for a decent sized home.

[kimrocktherealtor]

Taxes arent horrible in Collingswood area, you can get a house in that price range. In PA I would say you're going to need to potentially settle for either an older home or a townhouse if you want a good school district and stay under 250k...

[thesixth]

If you want to keep your commute short, you could look around Ridley Park & area. You will find older homes, (mostly twins) that would be within that price range. Springfield, PA might have some options, again mostly twin homes.

[GraysFerryB4]

Agreed. I would look into Norwood /Ridley Park.
We live in Collingswood and love it. You are closer to the city but the bridge toll is a grind. If your fiance took the PATCO every day, he would save on parking with a 5 minute walk. The commute is 16 minutes. Collingswood is the closest "city feel" suburb to Philly. You could try Narberth or Ardmore but you will get bored to the Expressway traffic real fast; especially around rush hours.

[solibs]

Didn't you post about this before?

I would go with Collingswood/Oaklyn . . . or South Philly.

Do you really think there's that much of a difference between taxes in S. Jersey and Delaware Co?

[GraysFerryB4]

On average our taxes are about $2500 more than a compatible house in DelCo. The problem is that NJ prop taxes continue to rise (highest in USA) but the schools are worth what you get. If you have children out of school, NJ is not for you (my opinion). In contrast, the square footage you get in S. Philly is smaller for the price and quality of life. If you have children, you have little choice but to send them to private/parochial school. You will likely incur offstreet parking as well. I have friends in all of the spots mentioned. You have to weigh what your responsibilities vs. budget are to make the choice thats right. We don't (and won't) have kids in NJ but we worked hard on our house and though I would like to move to S. Philly, my partner is just fine with what we have despite the taxes (which are also written off).

[solibs]

I dunno - when I lived in Collingswood I had about 1400 s/f. My place in South Philly is 2000 s/f. Our house here was more expensive but the gap in property taxes meant that our mortgage was the same. Yeah, you guys in Collingswood must have giant houses overlooking Knight Park or something.
Either that or the taxes have doubled since I lived there.

The biggest differences for me moving to the city were that my commuting costs went down and I didn't have grass to cut anymore . . . and I don't need to run to Westmont for beer or wine.

E. Passyunk Ave. is as good or better than Haddon Ave.

Different strokes. I like Collingswood. I might wind up back there some day but at this point in my life it's not for me.

[GraysFerryB4]

Yah. I can see the difference. We have a sizeable house by the water so we pay to live there. I'd like to get into S. Philly but the wage tax gets you there...I'd go East Passyunk or Bella Vista.

[gr33nboy]

check out lansdowne. a lot of house for your money, and it more than makes up for delaware county taxes.

here's an example of a home for sale there. older victorians and dutch colonials, near city but not in, the place lawyers and doctors used to live decades ago. having a bit of a renaissance. lots of arts culture, farmer's market, etc.

http://www.lansdowneproperties.net/defaultlistings.x?ListID=377848

[tscherm1]

Wow thanks everyone, a lot of great information. I did post about about something similar to this before, but at the time we were looking to rent in the city. We ended up getting a place in Northern Liberties. We love it here, its just that all the little expenses are really starting to add up. We figure if we're going to pay that amount per month, we might as well put it towards a mortgage payment. Anyways, we've looked around a little with our realtor, mainly in the Jersey area. We really liked the area, but as some of you posted about, even though we might be getting more house for the price, we end up paying more with the taxes/ tolls. We dont have any children right now, and although we probably will in the next few years, schools are not necessarily a priority, besides resale value. We've looked around the Ridley Park area and really seem to like it. Some of the surrounding areas seem to be a little shady, which brings me to my next question; hows the crime rate, school systems in the Ridley area. As I originally said, I work in Ridley, so whenever I have driven around, it seems pretty safe and welcoming, but its hard tell, not living there. Again, thanks for all your responses, very helpful information.