Like New in Doylestown for $285K
They're still building new homes in this subdivision. This nearly new one costs less.
3951 Cephas Child Rd. #15, Doylestown, Pa. 18902 | TREND images via BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors
Most of the Bucks County homes within our first-time buyers’ target range of $300,000 or less lie at the county’s extremes. There’s a slew of them along its southeastern edge, in the string of mostly working-class communities that includes Bensalem, Levittown and Bristol, and two more clusters in its northwest corner, around Perkasie and Quakertown.
If you’d rather live in the county’s lovely, woodsy center, you may have to look a little harder, but you will be able to find some good starter homes. There’s a subdivision currently being developed just northwest of Doylestown Borough that may be fertile ground, if you’re willing to wait for the original buyers to move.
Actually, new homes in the Overlook at Carriage Hill development hover right around our upper limit — builder CalAtlantic Homes’ base model sells for a few dollars less than $300,000. But if this three-year-old townhouse in the development is any guide, these homes may be like pre-owned (please, not “used”) cars: you can get a nicely upgraded home for a better price once it’s been around the block a few times.
This house facing a pond at the edge of the development is a case in point. Its owner fitted it out with wide-plank hardwood floors, granite countertops and a tile backsplash in the kitchen, a tray ceiling in the master bedroom and a large stone tile tub/shower enclosure in the master bathroom. Both bedrooms and the living room have ceiling fans, and there’s plush carpet in both the upper-floor bedrooms and the basement rec room. The 10-foot ceilings on the main floor add a sense of spaciousness as well.
The views of the pond and surrounding farmland should get even better as the trees mature. In back, a brick patio offers space for outdoor relaxation and entertaining.
We must confess, though, to be a bit puzzled that a home like this would sell for less than a new one so soon after it was built, especially in this market. One possible reason: you’re close to Doylestown but not in it. This subdivision lies on the other side of the Doylestown Bypass, which means it’s a drive instead of a walk to all the shops, restaurants and other attractions that make Doylestown popular with residents and visitors alike. But if you’re just getting started as a homeowner, that may be close enough.
THE FINE PRINT
BEDS: 2
BATHS: 2 full, 1 half
SQUARE FEET: 1,556
SALE PRICE: $285,000
OTHER STUFF: This home’s sale price was reduced by $14,000 on Nov. 6. A monthly homeowners association fee covers maintenance of the common areas and lawns as well as snow and trash removal.
3951 Cephas Child Rd. #15, Doylestown, Pa. 18902 [Mariann Matarese | BHHS Fox & Roach Realtors]
