Cheltenham: It's 'Wonderful,' But Taxing

One in a continuing series spotlighting the real estate market in this region's communities.

Real estate agents and residents agree the housing recovery is having a difficult time taking hold in Cheltenham Township.

Why? Property taxes.

The township's 2013 tax rate, 51.9 mills, is the highest in Montgomery County, according to the Board of Assessment Appeals. And though 41.6 mills finance what most current and prospective residents consider a top-flight school district, the taxes stop a lot of would-be buyers at the Cheltenham line.

"It isn't the easiest of markets," says Cheryl Miller, an agent with Long & Foster Real Estate who sells in Cheltenham and who has lived in the township since 1997.

Though Miller promptly adds that Cheltenham is a "wonderful place to live" - something virtually everyone interviewed is quick to offer - a typical annual tax bill of $8,000 for a $225,000 house is a big deterrent to buyers.

Says Susan Yannessa of Weichert Realtors, who lives in nearby Jenkintown but who handles a lot of houses in Cheltenham, "You can have a $300,000 house and pay as much $12,000 a year in taxes." Home prices range from $200,000 to $500,000.

Buyers who hope to acquire one of the rambling, century-old stone houses for which the township's neighborhoods - Elkins Park, LaMott, Wyncote, Glenside, and Melrose Park, among others - are known often come in with offers well below asking price, tamping down values and allowing the market to stagnate, Yannessa says.

She and Miller readily acknowledge, however, that Cheltenham has enough going for it, especially reasonably priced larger houses for expanding families in a time of historically low interest rates, to offset the concerns over property taxes.

"My next settlement . . . the buyers didn't want to look anywhere else" because of the school district, Yannessa says, adding that other recent buyers, educators with no children, chose it for its convenience to the city by train.

"Residents are very loyal to the community," she says. So loyal that many who need to buy larger or smaller do so within the township, Yannessa says, adding, "It is a small town in and of itself."

Yet on real estate search engines such as Trulia, Cheltenham's taxes are much discussed, along with whether the quality of the schools justifies such an expense.

"The issue is whether or not our schools are commensurate with the taxes," Miller says. "They are just not exceptional schools."

Cheltenham is one of the most ethnically and racially diverse of Philadelphia's suburbs, which Miller and other residents consider a major strength.

"Just like the world, it isn't homogeneous, and the people who are moving here get it," she says.

"My block is like International House," says Evelyn B. Block, who has lived in her house for 43 years.

Of her three children, one has a Ph.D., another is a physician, and the third is "a high-powered Washington lawyer." Although Block says she has had her issues with the school district over the years, "I think that they are moving back in the right direction."

Cheltenham's taxes are high for a variety of reasons, most of them not special.

Settled in 1682, Cheltenham was the residence of choice for many of Philadelphia's business elite in the late 19th century, among them John Wanamaker and industrialists such as Peter A.B. Widener and William Lukens Elkins.

Later, that "rich-man's retreat" nature worked against establishing a nonresidential property-tax base.

Many of the industrialists donated property to schools, religious institutions, and a variety of other nonprofits, reducing the tax base by almost 30 percent, Miller says.

There is little buildable land left, so over-55 housing, which would not further burden the school system while boosting tax revenue, cannot be built in enough quantity to make a difference.

For longtime residents hoping to sell, the taxes are burdensome. Block says her "beloved" four-bedroom Colonial was listed for six months.

"Very few people came to see it, and no offers were made," she says.

"What is disconcerting is that people don't seem to realize what they get for that: well-built plaster walls, hardwood floors, large bedrooms and closets," she says - not only in her house, but in others as well.

"The only thing we don't have is spa bathrooms," Block says, affirming what Miller and Yannessa say is a critical point with today's buyers - they want 100-year-old houses with 21st-century amenities.

Miller's advice is to appeal the property taxes.

"A lot of people have done this successfully," she says. "I recommend people planning to sell at some point to do this as soon as they can, to be in a good position when their houses go on the market."

Max Minkoff remains firm in his belief Cheltenham is a good bet for buyers.

Minkoff, president of the board of the new CreekSide Co-op on High School Road in the township's Elkins Park section, moved his family from Mount Airy almost five years ago for "the opportunity to be a bigger part of the community, to raise my kids, and for a larger backyard."

Schools "are a factor, obviously," says Minkoff, whose children are still a little too young to attend them.

CreekSide, which opened on the old Ashbourne Market site in November, was five years in the making and has just under 2,000 members.

Not only does its 12-hour-a-day operation more than fill the gap left by Ashbourne's closing five years ago, but it has, Realtors and local residents say, created interest in Cheltenham among younger buyers, added new businesses, and revitalized older ones.

"Two new restaurants are coming this spring, adding to the Rail Stop at Elkins Park station" that opened in March 2012, Minkoff says.

That's one example of the cooperative action typical of Cheltenham.

Another is the 11-acre High School Park behind his Elkins Park home, created on the site of the old high school and maintained by volunteers.

"A great thing done by the community," Minkoff says.

Population: 36,793 (2010).

Median income: $78,034 (2009).

Size: 9 square miles.

Homes for sale: 103.

Settlements in the last three months: 9.

Average days on market: 162.

Median sale price (single-family homes): $239,000.

Median sale price

(all homes) $239,000.

Housing stock: 14,897, a substantial number of pre-World War II houses.

School district: Cheltenham Township.

SOURCES: U.S. Census Bureau; Movoto.com; Zillow.com; Trulia.com; City-data.comEndText