Inquiring minds looking for info (Wilmington, Dover: real estate, crime, month to)

[Gnarley]

My wife and I are considering moving from the left coast to the right coast and are looking for info on Delaware in general that could help our decision.

We are in our early 50’s no kids and tired of taxes and problems in California that seem never ending. We live in wine country and though there are many things to like about it there are many more we need to consider as we prepare for retirement 15-20 years from now.

We will not own the current home we live in which is 2100SF and valued about $450K. Taxes here in 20 years may make the difference between living on the edge month to month or living reasonably comfortably somewhere else.

Our strategy is to downsize to something between 1200SF & 1600SF and move closer to my wife’s family in New England and locate ourselves close to IT work for me and Trade Show work for my wife while keeping housing and cost of living down.

We would like to find a Single level home in the suburbs around Dover or Wilmington which may provide our best options. Something more rural and removed may also work so that we can park our RV and boat on our property. Commute times of 20-30 minutes are preferred while keeping aware of crime and staying in safer areas.

What areas in Delaware would fit this search?

Any ides, questions or suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks

[jdoll]

The area around Middletown, Odessa and Townsend (referred to MOT also) would meet many of your criteria.
1) Ranch home with property and the ability to park an RV.
2) $450k should get you the same square footage you have (ie; no downsizing required) and 2-5 acres or more.
3) You would be centrally located.
a) 20 minutes to Dover or I-95
b) 30 minutes to Wilmington
c) 50 minutes to PHL and 1hr 45 to BWI
d) Washington DC is 2 hrs and NYC 3 hrs

[Gnarley]

Originally Posted by jdoll

The area around Middletown, Odessa and Townsend (referred to MOT also) would meet many of your criteria.
2) $450k should get you the same square footage you have (ie; no downsizing required) and 2-5 acres or more.

We want to downsize, we don't want the taxes or the upkeep inside or out of a 2100SF home. Downsizing will allow us more flexibility, less work, less spending so we can pursue things we want to do, like traveling. I will still be working so I really would like to move away from time demanding maintenance tasks. I believe that energy may cost more in Delaware so the saving of a smaller home should help offset the increase.

Is it possible to find smaller homes in these areas with a bit of property?

[doctorjef]

You might find much of Kent and Sussex counties - our two "lower" counties - something of an unscenic shock. The prettiest areas IMO are limited to a rather small area of far northern Delaware - northern New Castle County - north of Wilmington; specifically Greenville, Montchanin, Yorklyn, Hockessin, Centreville, parts of the Brandywine Hundred; also the neighborhoods between the City of Wilmington proper and the beginning of what most people would identify as clearly Greenville, i.e. Westover Hills, Westhaven and West Park. Within the City of Wilmington, Wawaset Park, Westminster, and the Highlands are all quite nice as well. However, if you want to be more rural I would suggest for your price point something in Hockessin, and you would also possibly find a very few properties scattered around Greenville, Yorklyn and Centreville. This area of Delaware is topographically part of the Appalachian Piedmont, like southeastern Pennsylvania. By contrast, the greater part of Delaware is coastal plain and quite topographically boring. Also living in the less developed bits of northern New Castle County gives you good access to a lot of more urban amenities, good access to Amtrak, and a more sophisticated social milieu than is the case downstate. This is not to "dis" lower Delaware, which has the beaches and Atlantic coast, wetlands and farmland, and some charming towns and historical places. I just think lower Delaware might be a bit too much of an adjustment from the good things you'd leave behind in California.

[longnecker]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

You might find much of Kent and Sussex counties - our two "lower" counties - something of an unscenic shock. This is not to "dis" lower Delaware, which has the beaches and Atlantic coast, wetlands and farmland, and some charming towns and historical places. I just think lower Delaware might be a bit too much of an adjustment from the good things you'd leave behind in California.

Hey doctorjef.... Some of us moved here by choice and LOVE it.

[doctorjef]

And there we have the essential Delaware split betwixt those of us who live in northern New Castle County and those living in the rest of the state "below the ditch" (i.e. south of the C&D Canal).

[rdlr]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

You might find much of Kent and Sussex counties - our two "lower" counties - something of an unscenic shock.

(And went on to)...........

This is not to "dis" lower Delaware, which has the beaches and Atlantic coast, wetlands and farmland, and some charming towns and historical places. I just think lower Delaware might be a bit too much of an adjustment from the good things you'd leave behind in California.

These are typical remarks coming from "some" who've moved to Delaware only to sponge up Delaware's low real estate taxes on outlandishly overpriced homes in Delaware's most lah-de-dah area, which borders Pennsylvania (where 'the address' is everything). Convenience to more affluent places, for a quick escape out of this "Wart of a State" is an additional perk for those users.

Reading these rude remarks reminds me of just WHY there is a divide between northern and mid-southern Delaware. I had almost forgotten. Anyway, Happy Delaware Day, in advance! December 7, 1787!
Ahhhh....That would be ALL of Delaware.

[doctorjef]

rdlr: "Thou sayest". Did I not give Lower DE its due? It really depends what you are into. I prefer what northern New Castle County has to offer and obviously many other people do too. If I felt I could afford a second home I would love to have one in Lewes (for the OP, Lewes is "the first town in the First State" and is at the bottom of the Delaware Bay in Sussex County). However, I wouldn't want to live down there all the time. I happen to like the vegetation and lay of the land here, which are much more like the parts of Virginia and Maryland I was familiar with as a kid than is Lower Delaware. I can't be the only one who has this aesthetic. I really wonder if Lower DE wouldn't be quite a shock to the system after the CA wine country. And I do think that our easy trasportation links up here are valuable -- there's a lot to be said for being able to get up easily and painlessly to NYC and all points between here and Boston on the one hand, and DC on the other.

[James420]

Originally Posted by doctorjef

rdlr: "Thou sayest". Did I not give Lower DE its due? It really depends what you are into. I prefer what northern New Castle County has to offer and obviously many other people do too. If I felt I could afford a second home I would love to have one in Lewes (for the OP, Lewes is "the first town in the First State" and is at the bottom of the Delaware Bay in Sussex County). However, I wouldn't want to live down there all the time. I happen to like the vegetation and lay of the land here, which are much more like the parts of Virginia and Maryland I was familiar with as a kid than is Lower Delaware. I can't be the only one who has this aesthetic. I really wonder if Lower DE wouldn't be quite a shock to the system after the CA wine country. And I do think that our easy trasportation links up here are valuable -- there's a lot to be said for being able to get up easily and painlessly to NYC and all points between here and Boston on the one hand, and DC on the other.

Thats the good part of our transportation links, the bad is that we get all the scumbags and drugs because of those roads.
Alot of subdivisions or developments have civic associations that may not like your RV and Boat. I know it drives me crazy too. I also think like jdoll that the MOT area would have what your looking for. Just check before you come and make sure that there aren't rules forbidding you from parking your boat and RV on your property.

[doctorjef]

I'm afraid you aren't going to be able to commute to any big trade shows in 20-30 mins from any locations in DE, although Wilmington area puts you about 40 mins from Centre City Philadelphia by car, or about an hour from Baltimore by car or train; a little more than 90 mins to DC and same to NYC (i.e. by the express service, not by regional trains or car -- those take longer). Parking an RV in the less developed areas of Hockessin and other areas in northern New Castle County shouldn't be a problem, but having a boat there and hauling it down Rt 1 to the coast would be a bit of a bother. Unless you are in the urban slums or out by a rural meth lab in Sussex County I doubt you are going to have much of an encounter with crime, apart from some property crime. We did have a bad incident here recently in this neck of the woods when a young woman home alone in her parents' house made the mistake of opening the door to a couple of strange men who rang the bell in the middle of the day and then proceeded to assault here and burgle the house. However, that kind of thing is a rarity and can happen anywhere. Caution and alertness are always the best way not to fall victim to crime.

I wouldn't make any presuppositions about the best place in DE to match one's own needs without spending some time here and touring around the state, something that can be easily and pretty comprehensively done in the span of a few days. That is unless you definitely know in advance exactly what your criteria are, what you need in a place and what different locations in the state do and don't have to offer. In our case it was an easy choice to make in advance because only northern New Castle County would really work for us. For other people only well-defined parts of Sussex County would work. For many people the choice of locations across the state would be very ambiguous, with different areas each coming with an assortment of pros and cons.