Any input out there as to moving to this area of the country? My husband and I are thinking about moving in a year or 2 in order to buy our dream “farmette” of 5-10 acres. Online, it looks like this area is affordable and horsey enough.
Any advantages of one state over the other? Are there any specific areas to look at? Close to the Philly area gets a little too pricey.
Are there any other areas we should be looking at?
TIA!!!
I grew up right on the line between southern PA and northern MD. My husband and I are both from the area.
The farther east you go, the horsier it gets. I literally grew up in horse heaven (Chester County, PA- Oxford to be specific). We left because a) we didn’t appreciate our hometown in our youth, and b) land values were so high at the time it didn’t look like we’d ever afford a farm.
Ironically, we moved to TN shortly before housing boomed here. While the cost of living is still a bit lower, property values in our area are now pretty much the same as Oxford!
I’ve hit my breaking point with the limited horse scene here. I love Nashville, I love the weather, but I can’t deal with back country, crappy horse services any longer. I’d go back home in a heartbeat if the opportunity came up!
With all that said, definitely investigate southern Chester County/southern Lancaster County, PA and Cecil County, MD. Extremely horse-friendly and relatively affordable depending on the location! The closer you get towards Philly/Baltimore, the more expensive it will get.
What do you want to do with your horses? There are lots of options in Maryland where you can be close to what you want to do. Fair Hill is a great place to ride, located in Cecil County close to the DE line. But it’s out there, if you need to get to work, you will be driving a lot. Closer to Baltimore there are lots of show barns and local show circuits if you want to compete. Harford County and Baltimore County are pricier than Cecil, but you have the convenience of nearby businesses for work or errands. Carroll County is another option. I lived less than 20 minutes from Swan Lake at one point, which was kind of nice since we showed there often.
Either place would be great and horsey. I think PA probably wins for state taxes. It’s definitely one of the states that’s always mentioned for one of the best places to retire due to lack of taxes on retirement income. Their regular taxes have got to be lower than MD’s too.
I think it depends what’s most important to you. PA will generally have cheaper land, taxes and services. MD will have more employment available, but especially within commuting distance to DC it gets very expensive and has worse traffic. Both have plenty of horses.
I live in MD literally on the MD/PA line in Cecil County. I am smack in the middle of horse haven- 20 mins from Fair Hill, an hour from Devon, 30 mins from New Bolton, very near several tack stores and so on… PA is a bit more ag friendly than MD but their property taxes are much higher, sales tax is the same for both states, MD roads much better maintained. I like that in MD your vehicle is inspected once when you get it tagged then you never have to do it again- in PA it’s every year or every other year. It’s easier to find a bigger piece of land in PA.
So in conclusion- they both have their good points and bad points- but either-way it’s a very horse friendly area.
I think we’ll have to go check it out! Hubs has traveled to PA several times for work and said it’s really pretty - I’ve never been. 
Proximity to employment isn’t necessarily important - Husband works from home and flies out a lot - so an airport within an hour is necessary. But it doesn’t even need to be a huge airport. I also work from home - so in reality we could go anywhere. We do have 2 children so schools are important. Any other suggestions?
Right now we live north of Chicago in a teeny tiny ranch on a teeny tiny lot and it’s outrageously expensive. When we see that we can get bigger home on around 7 acres in this area for the same price, we find ourselves scratching our heads and wondering why we’re staying here. (Aside from the fact that we love Chicago and our friends and life here!!)
Horse-wise – I’m more of a “professional dabbler.” My favorite things here are fox hunting and trail riding – so those are musts. I also take dressage lessons and H/J lessons. So I would want places to ride out and professionals to lesson with. I’m not a huge showing person - just for fun. But I expect in that area those things aren’t hard to find!
Thanks for any info – it’s hard to get a real sense of the place looking at realtor.com! But I do see a long weekend exploring the area in our future!
Southern Chester County, PA sounds like a very good fit for you. The land prices are on the high side - you would probably be looking at arounf $500k+ for 5-10 acred with horse facilites. Of course if would depend on the condition of the property, etc. It will be less expensive towards Oxford, Landenberg, Avondale and West Grove. More expensive east of that (near Unionville, Kennett Square) but Unionville-Chadds Ford School Disctrict and Kennett Square schoold district are very good. UCF is one of the top in the state and that partly drives land values.
There is more quine activity in the area that one could possibly participate in. All english disciplines, foxhunting, paper chases, dressage and H-J shows, eventing, etc.
Kennett Square is really on the up-swing. Some nice boutiques and restaurants. Plenty to do but on the edge of rural living. Plus, Kennett is only about 45 min to Philadelphia international airport!
I am from the Monkton MD very “horsey” but have been living about 8 miles north of Oxford. Our farm is on the western edge of Cheshire Hunt country and “qualifies” for automatic membership. Some of the best vets in the country are in the neighborhood. New Bolton 15 minutes. Along with farriers, selection of feed, hay, straw, etc. We have over 100 acres, 22 stalls, ring, paddocks 18 acres of woods with trails cut and jumps, lots of jumps around the property, 50 acres in hay. Beautiful lay to the land. Not looking to sell but for the right offer. Will throw in all the equipment needed and horses. As they say “lock, stock and barrel” and an owners manual. It’s a “William Penn” property have the deed signed by him. Main part of the house dates to 1690.
Can’t swing a cat around here without hitting a horse. Next best place to Monkton and or Middleburg VA area.
This is one of the premier “horse areas” in the country. West Chester airport which can accommodate private jets is 15 minutes away. Philly airport less than an hour depending on traffic. BWI about 1 1/2 hrs. Less than 3 hrs to NYC.
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