People are often asked what town they live in. In the Philadelphia suburbs, this question is more difficult than it appears. How this question is answered can have a large impact on the appraisal of your home.

Pennsylvania is divided into 67 counties. The role of the county includes services such as law enforcement, judicial administration, public health, property assessment, community colleges, and public libraries. The county also has taxing authority. At a more local level, the state is subdivided into 2,561 municipal corporations. With the exception of the Town Of Bloomsburg, these municipalities fall into three categories: Townships, boroughs, and cities. There are currently 1,546 townships, 959 boroughs and 56 cities in Pennsylvania. There are no unincorporated areas of the state. All homes in Pennsylvania are located within the boundaries of one of these three municipal corporation types. Also, there is no overlap. Every property is located in only one of these municipalities. Some roles of the local municipality include police and fire protection, public works, street maintenance and local zoning ordinances. Municipal corporations also have taxing authority. To make it more confusing, school districts are a quasi-municipal corporation that were created for the sole purpose of performing a single public function. Of course a school districts also has taxing authority.

When asked the question, “what town do you live in?” people often look to their mailing address for the answer. If your mail is delivered to Conshohocken, PA, then this must be the town you live in, right? Sometimes. A sizable portion of homes using the Conshohocken Post Office are located in the Borough Of Conshohocken. A significant numbers of homes using the Conshohocken postal designation are not. Some are under the municipal jurisdiction of Plymouth Township. Others are located in the municipality of Whitemarsh Township. To add further confusion, the Borough Of West Conshohocken is a completely different entity from the Borough Conshohocken, yet uses the same 19428 zip code and the postal city designation of Conshohocken. Even more so, the Borough Of West Conshohocken is located in the Upper Merion School District. The remainder of homes using a Conshohocken mailing address are located in the Colonial School District. From an appraisal standpoint, you can see the implications of lumping all homes with a Conshohocken mailing address into a single, residential real estate market. Within this postal designation, there are homes under the jurisdiction of four separate municipal corporations and two school districts.

Another common departure in suburban Philadelphia is communities that exist in name only. A prime example is Plymouth Meeting and King Of Prussia. These are distinct communities recognized by all however, there are no governing municipalities incorporated under these names. Plymouth Meeting is governed largely by the municipality of Plymouth Township. There is a smaller portion of Plymouth Meeting that is located in Whtemarsh Township. King Of Prussia is governed by the municipality of Upper Merion Township.

Municipal corporation and school district are highly relevant to home appraisal. I discussed the sales comparison in a previous blog post. This is the process were sales of other houses in the area are compared to the home being appraised. These sales reflect actual market reaction to similar residences, and offer insight into anticipated market reaction to the property being appraised. In general, sales of homes located in the same school district, and under jurisdiction of the same municipal body offer the best comparison. Sales meeting these criteria are impacted by the same municipal services, amenities, and ordinances. Homes in the same municipality are taxed at the same rate. In most suburban areas, school district location has a tremendous impact on market reaction to a house. There are certainly exception however, comparable sale selection begins with homes that are located in the same municipality, and school district. Postal designation is secondary, if relevant at all.

It is important as a homeowner to understand municipal corporation and school district influence an appraisal. At first glance, it may appear that the appraiser is overlooking good comparable sales. These sales have the same mailing address town. Further analysis may reveal that they are actually located in a different municipality, school district, or even county, and do not offer a good comparison to your home.

Padove Appraisal Service is a full service residential real estate appraisal provider dedicated to helping residential property owners make better informed decisions. As a small, dynamic service oriented company that takes pride in delivering top-notch appraisal services, you can always be sure you’re getting the most accurate home appraisal for your money every time you come to us for your residential appraisal needs. We serve Philadelphia PA, along with Montgomery County, Delaware County and Chester County PA.