Hello,

my husband and I currently live in an apt in manayunk, pa, and since we are expecting baby #1, we are thinking about buying a home. We need a nice town within commuting distance of philadelphia, and we also don't have that much money (I'm a med student and he works in a university). So, we are looking at single homes from 150-250k (around200k ideally), like I said, within commuting distance to philadelphia (either in pa or nj), in a very safe nice town... Any suggestions?? Thank you all so much!

-erin

I grew up outside of Philly on the Jersey side. On route 70, you would like Marlton or Cherry Hill, both about 20 minutes from Philly. Westmont is also pretty nice and a little more affordable. A little farther north (route 73) you have Cinnaminson; my friends just moved to that area, and it's very quiet and fairly reasonable. I think you'd be happy in any of those places. Both also have easy access to 295. (The only downside in NJ is the property taxes...Marlton especially.) Good luck!

Oh! I forgot to add...most towns in that general area are safe, but I named the ones that also have excellent school systems, since you're expecting. (Congrats!!)

This doesn't exactly answer your question, but if you try the western suburbs, you're going to have a problem finding something in your price range. For $200k you might find a small townhouse/condo type of setup, but not much else.

Some areas to look at: West Chester, Media. You could go farhter west and get cheaper prices, but the commute gets tougher.

Try the Wilmington or Newark area in Delaware. Its not a bad commute and the houses are in your range. Also go on realtor.com Hope I helped.

Collingswood or Haddon Twp, NJ. Collingswoods had a big revival....cute downtown and good restaurants. Steps away from Patco Hi-Speed Line and a 15-20 minute commute to Center City. Lots of my kid's younger teachers live in Collingswood and love it. There's a good website....I think it's prufoxroach.com????

thanks everyone for your replies! I will look into these communities.

Hey Erin

I'll vote for my town, Flourtown. It's just outside of Chestnut Hill so it's easy commuting into the city. The area has many parks and lots of open space and is very convenient.

http://www.whitemarshtwp.org/

We are very active in preservation in our community. Here's the website:
http://www.wtra.org/