With my state listing I kinda feel like Mel Gibson and Tkechy Karyo in The Patriot, 'God Save King George' and all.

I'm in a position to be house hunting (condo hunting, actually), and I'm looking to find a place across the border in more comfortable climes. Seeing as I actually enjoy my job, in Cherry Hill, I was hoping to find a place over in Bucks County.

Anyone have any idea what the lay of the land is in Lower Bucks? Falls, Bristol,  Bensalem, Makefield, etc? I'm trying to get an idea of where I should be looking...good neighborhoods, places to avoid, etc. I'm looking in the area of 130-140k for a condo, so the question of anything being available in that price range is still an issue!  If any of you guys could help me out with some info, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Ok...stay away from Falls, Bensalem, Levittown and anywhere else in Lower Bucks....it's basically Philly under a different name.

If you don't mind a slightly longer commute (say about 1:15 each way) then consider Central Bucks, Doylestown (although you won't find a condo for that price) is real nice......I live near Dublin in a condo development, you can probably grab a nice one around here for $150k or so but they're putting more in so prices may change.

Have school age kids or plan on having them?  Listen to what Ray said.  You might also try Montgomery county.  Stay out of Norristown.



Regards,
Gary

Quoted: Ok...stay away from Falls, Bensalem, Levittown and anywhere else in Lower Bucks....it's basically Philly under a different name.

Um....if you don't mind my asking, what do you mean? Are we talking social culture, crime statistics, economic factors, or the whole kit and kaboodle?

If you don't mind a slightly longer commute (say about 1:15 each way) then consider Central Bucks, Doylestown (although you won't find a condo for that price) is real nice......I live near Dublin in a condo development, you can probably grab a nice one around here for $150k or so but they're putting more in so prices may change.

Ouch. More than an hour would be somewhat difficult (I'm already getting up at 5am in the morning as it is), but it's that or be stuck at least another 5 years in this dump. My realtor said she checked out Lower Makefield but there was absolutely nothing in my price range. Argh.

Quoted: Have school age kids or plan on having them?  Listen to what Ray said.  You might also try Montgomery county.  Stay out of Norristown. Regards, Gary

Nope....no kids...not even seeing anyone right now so it's thankfully not a concern.

Thanks for the replies guys.....keep 'em coming if you got anything else! I'm going to have a chat with my realtor, but  from my research and listings checkings, I'm getting the impression the the location I'm looking at and 130-140k seem to be rather mutually exclusive.....

Primarily social culture and crime statistics......the environment is (from what I've seen down there) pretty dirty, not a lot of pride in the neighborhoods.  Economically it's probably cheaper than where you are in Jersey to live but I wouldn't be able to make any claims to pricing on homes to purchase.

I'm just guessing at the commute time, it takes me roughly 1:45min to get from Dublin PA to Medford Lakes NJ (the intersection of 70 and 206) but that's with day time traffic, you may make it in a shorter distance leaving at 5am or so.

Upper Makefield is also the extreamly high rent district of Bucks County....  You may want to look off of Rt 476 in Montgomery County.  It connects with I-95 just sount of Phila International.  Hope the Walt Whitman and there you go....

Regards,
Gary

well I am in Lower Makefield and  4 years ago you might have been able to get in  around here for that  $  but  highly doubtful now.  You might  look in Morrisville  there are some nice  sections there  but  not sure if there are condos  there.  Also some areas of Langhorne are decent  but again i do not know the  Condo situation .  Real estate in this  whole area  has been booming and the prices are  unbelievable  

Hmmm... don't think you're gonna find anything in that price range in eastern montco, either, that doesn't at least have several of the components in the "kit and kaboodle" as referenced above.    Real estate prices around here have been nuts in the past few years.   To give an example, a buddy of mine bought a 3br. condo (probably something like what you are looking for) in phoenixville for $105K 5 years back and just sold it for $180K - and while phoenixville isn't a bad neighborhood, some parts have some, err... character.    Seems like prices don't start to drop off until your nearly halfway to reading, which is of course well outside your 1 hr commute - especially travelling towards the city.

140k won't even get you a decent rowhome IT PHILLY anymore. Go outside the city and it is even higher.

I work in Cherry Hill as well but live in Montgomery county (west of King of Prussia).  My commute is a little under an hour in the morning (leave well before 7am) and a little over an hour going home.  I wouldn't suggest this commute unless your job allows some felxibility in your hours.

I would suggest looking into the Plymouth Meeting area or even a bit closer to the city (Conshohocken) unless you're looking for some open space. then look a bit further north west.  Just confirm you're not too close to Norristown before you buy.  This area allows you to take i76 home, but if traffic is bad, you can bail off the expressway and take Ridge avenue home.

Feel free to email me directly since we work in the same town, and apparently get up at the same time to head into work.  You have some more options if the 1 hour mark is your target commute time.  Getting up that early your morning commute will be far shorter than your ride home.  

I don't agree with some of the opinions on lower Bucks County posted above.  The Yardley, Newtown areas are a GREAT place to live.  You're right off 95 so you're commute shouldn't be too bad.  Very clean, great facilities and very, very gun friendly (the Sheriff signs off on Class III stuff while you wait).  South of Newtown into Langhorn and points south can get a bit iffy, but still not really bad.  There are some places to stay away from, but most of them still are'nt really that bad.  $140,000.00 is your biggest problem, but doable if you shop around.  It'll basicly get you a one bedroom apartment (condo) but in a nice area.  There are several in your price range for sale right now in Holland, which is a bedroom community of Newtown.  I used to live in one and, for what it was, was very happy.  One big room for your living/dinning area, nice kitchen, decent sized bedroom and and big enough to have an apartment sized washer and dryer in the place(no laundromat BS).  The community as a whole was very well kept and included a pool and tennis courts, if you're into theat kind of stuff.  I rented one for two years while I got to know the area and decide where I wanted to buy.  Moved over from NJ in '92 and have to say it was the best move of my life.  Feel free to email me if you have an specific questions.

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just passing on some  second hand info    I have heard there is a condo Development in Lower Makefield  called Yardley Commons.  It is   near downtown Yardley and   very close to the Delaware river.  the units are supposed to be pretty small but they   are supposed to be  going  for  something  near  your price  range.    I  have no first hand knowledge of this   at all just   some  scoop i  got from a friend