Buying a house, need advice.
Do those women come with you, although my wife would not be happy.
11-20-2006, 10:12 AM
#15
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Since I moved into my place like 6 months ago I can give you some feedback from when I was researching. I lived in West Chester with my parents for 20 years but I bought outside Phoenixville because the housing is cheaper and alot of newer places are popping up.
1. West Chester taxes are pretty reasonable but the housing is more expensive. The taxes are going to increase alot because of the new high school that was just finished off of 926.
2. Downingtown taxes and Coatsville are rediculous high. They are still developing and there are not alot of businesses down that way to pick up the slack on taxes so you have to pay. I have a friend in Dtown with a $230k townhome that he pays $6000/yr in taxes. The housing is cheaper but with the higher taxes it evens out if you buy in or around West Chester.
Pville is the up and coming area. The new Iron hill and alot of other restaurants moved in and they are making it the next Manayunk or West Chester. The housing is still quite affordable and the taxes are pretty reasonable. As long as they do not make another school (which they wont anytime soon because there are not enough kids to fill the ones now) the taxes shouldnt jump much.
Check out www.homemarketsite.com and search for the areas you are interested in. I looked at alot of Dtown townhomes until I decided on where I am now.
1. West Chester taxes are pretty reasonable but the housing is more expensive. The taxes are going to increase alot because of the new high school that was just finished off of 926.
2. Downingtown taxes and Coatsville are rediculous high. They are still developing and there are not alot of businesses down that way to pick up the slack on taxes so you have to pay. I have a friend in Dtown with a $230k townhome that he pays $6000/yr in taxes. The housing is cheaper but with the higher taxes it evens out if you buy in or around West Chester.
Pville is the up and coming area. The new Iron hill and alot of other restaurants moved in and they are making it the next Manayunk or West Chester. The housing is still quite affordable and the taxes are pretty reasonable. As long as they do not make another school (which they wont anytime soon because there are not enough kids to fill the ones now) the taxes shouldnt jump much.
Check out www.homemarketsite.com and search for the areas you are interested in. I looked at alot of Dtown townhomes until I decided on where I am now.
11-20-2006, 11:21 AM
#16
Jay - Yeah we found a couple, unfortunately I just found out that the one house we really liked just had a bid on it today. But we'll keep looking.
Dub - You're not kidding! Even just the differences between Coatsville and Downingtown taxes is enough to make a significant difference. We looked at a few houses, and after I did some quick calculations I realized that the difference in taxes would allow us to afford a house that costs $30k more in dtown then the one we likes with coatsville school!
We had thought about Phoenixeville, but unfortunately our jobs are located in West Chester and Downingtown, and we are both working at client sites farther south-east. So moving to Phoenixeville will add another 30 min on top of our increasingly annoying commutes.
Dub - You're not kidding! Even just the differences between Coatsville and Downingtown taxes is enough to make a significant difference. We looked at a few houses, and after I did some quick calculations I realized that the difference in taxes would allow us to afford a house that costs $30k more in dtown then the one we likes with coatsville school!
We had thought about Phoenixeville, but unfortunately our jobs are located in West Chester and Downingtown, and we are both working at client sites farther south-east. So moving to Phoenixeville will add another 30 min on top of our increasingly annoying commutes.
11-20-2006, 11:37 AM
#17
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Originally Posted by AssassinJN,Nov 16 2006, 09:55 AM
I still don't get how coatesville school taxes are higher, when you compare the schools to dtown's.
http://www.casdtaxpayeralliance.com/index.html
My gf's grandparents had a really hard time selling their house in coatesville because of the taxes. Meanwhile, her parents put their house up for sale that was located in downingtown and it sold in under a week.
that and downingtown is generally a lot nicer then coatesville, although coatesville has gotten better.
11-20-2006, 01:05 PM
#18
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Originally Posted by DubCS2K,Nov 20 2006, 11:12 AM
Pville is the up and coming area. The new Iron hill and alot of other restaurants moved in and they are making it the next Manayunk or West Chester. The housing is still quite affordable and the taxes are pretty reasonable. As long as they do not make another school (which they wont anytime soon because there are not enough kids to fill the ones now) the taxes shouldnt jump much.
Coatesville School taxes are high because of gross mismanagement; pay a lot - get little: if you are contemplating children who will attend those schools, think before acting. D-town are almost as high, but they deliver a high-quality education.
There are many more variables with housing than almost any other commodity. Price is just one of them. I bought my current house in January; while others were Christmas shopping, we went house-hunting, and it paid off. I wouldn't place much credence in waiting for the market to bottom out; the NE part of the country has not experienced the downturn in prices that has afflicted other areas.
11-22-2006, 08:32 AM
#19
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Buy the best house you can afford in West Chester. The taxes are cheap, you're close to everything, and real estate will always be worth good money.
Downingtown has some nice developments but the taxes are outrageous.
I live in Sadsburyville which is in the Coatesville SD. The house has kept it's value but the commuting costs are killing us.
Downingtown has some nice developments but the taxes are outrageous.
I live in Sadsburyville which is in the Coatesville SD. The house has kept it's value but the commuting costs are killing us.
11-27-2006, 06:31 AM
#20
That's what where we are concentrating our search on now. Mostly west chester with some downingtown/malvern.
As it usually is in most cases, we can find exactly what we want, but it's juuust out of our do-able budget.
As it usually is in most cases, we can find exactly what we want, but it's juuust out of our do-able budget.