Not all of Delaware County has high property taxes. We moved to the Brookhaven part of Middletown Township and pay in the $2000's. Broomall is also in the $2000's. These are for single family 2-3 BR homes in great school districts purchased this year in the low-mid $200k range.

houses in the area are NOT inexpensive. pay attention to the monthly payment amount, not the price of the property. a 3-bedroom, 1-bath twin home in DH that is listed for $160,000 attracts $400 - $510 per month in taxes. with 20% down payment, 6.5% APR, $185,000 purchase price, a 30-year term, your monthly principal and interest = $935.46. add $500/month in taxes and it climbs to $1,435.46/month. in a neighborhood with lower property taxes, you can buy a $250,000 house and make same monthly payment amount. so, you either pay a lower house price and higher taxes or a higher house price and lower taxes. the entire delaware county, pa, has higher property taxes. and, the bad thing with tax is that it will always go up while mortgage payments will always stay the same [assuming fixed financing rate].

for those of you who dislike high property taxes, talk to the legislatures in harrisburg. pa state has a very regressive income tax system. poor, rich, married, single taxpayers pay the same tax rate of about 3%! why not have multiple marginal tax rates like in the federal tax so that the rich will pay more in state income tax. the extra tax revenue can be used to help finance local education thereby reducing property taxes on home-owners. this system will be fairer because it will make taxes dependent on income instead of consumption. and, everyone, young and old, needs a place to live in.

the teachers in the public schools have a very strong unions which successfuly negotiate huge compensation for their members.

so, you can relocate to delaware state and pay lower property taxes and higher house prices. or, stay in delaware county,pa, and pay higher property taxes and lower house price. you make that decision. worse yet, move to new jersey state, pay higher income tax, property taxes, and house prices.

mark

I lived in the Drexel Hill section for 15 years before just moving recently. My reasons included the decline of the school district, high/disportioned taxes and alarming increase in crime. All this adds up to a decline in home values and a bad image of the township.
The police chief Chitwood treats the east end like it was Phila 18th district.
I know and work with people who grow up in Upper Darby/Drexel Hill and they all say the same thing, things are not what they used to be.

Simple answer: The school district. We are returning to the area from VA and though about DH, until I did some research on the district. We have settled on either: a) Lower Merion (high costs/great schools), 2) DH and private school (I'm considering Monsignor Bonner for my son), or c) West Mt. Airy/Chestnut Hill and private school (beautiful homes, professional city dwelling families, and lower taxes.)

I'd look into Wallingford or Media. They both seem a bit inexpensive, and have a good school district. But...if you work in Philly, the commute will kill you.

Good luck.

The homes are inexpensive because this area sucks. There are no jobs here. Don't move here unless you want to be poor as hell and never find a job.

Hello, Mrs powell.
Just look up the school dist and you will see why. No one wants to send thier kids to these schools.
it's south east delco and from the reviews it doesnt look that great. also see if you can find someone who lives nearby and ask them about the area. Thats what i did.
Take a look for yourself there are plenty of reviews Online of the local schools.

The school tax is very high in the Upper Darby School District. To give you an idea, my friend was selling her home for $185K and she was paying $5500 per year in property taxes.

HI NOELLE, DHILL NOT REALLY CHEAP WHEN YOU FACTOR IN TAX BURDEN, HAVERTOWN IS A BETTER OPTION FOR YOU, EXCELLENT SCHOOLS, REASONABLE TAXES, FAMILY ORIENTED, I HOPE THIS HELPS... EMAIL ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE FURTHER INFO

Noelle,

Good question, as with anything in life if it seems to good to be true it often is. ALthough not sure which areas of Upper Darby you are looking as it is a large zip code/township and covers a diverse range of economic statuses. Also, certain areas of Upper Darby have a much higher crime rate than others (which can be substanitiated by data) and suffer from more urban blight, hence the lower prices in those areas. Also factored in are a large number of foreclosures and bank owned propreties even the areas where pride of ownership is high and homeownership is at higher rates given the nature of the economy now. On the flip side of finding a home in a neighborhood that is satisfactory to you despite being a great deal under market than it's neighboring comparable sales, the taxes in Upper Darby are largely very high to its neighboring municipalities. I lived in Upper Darby for sometime and am very familiar. If you need school, and more detailed prosepctive property information in order to best evaluate your options and make an educated decision, let me know. I would be happy to guide you.