Philly area newbie

[Rachel Degutz]

I’m looking to buy my first house hack! I currently live and work in NJ. I see there are a lot of potential properties in Philly, but I don’t know anything about the area. Can anyone give me an idea of what neighborhoods are nice and safe verses ones to stay away from? Also how bad is the traffic if I’m commuting to Florence, NJ every day? Thank you!

[Matt N.]

@Rachel Degutz Hi!

Your best bet for traveling to work would be to live in the NE quadrant or South Philadelphia. This will give you the best access to 95N and NJ highways. Morning commutes through Philly city streets can be terrible especially with all of the construction and development going on. So you want to be on the eastern side of the city for sure. 

As far as general safeness, the closer to center city the safer philadelphia is (generally speaking) So if you are in the NE quadrant of the city, Northern Liberties and Fishtown will be 'generally' safer than Kensington or Frankford. This does change as you get into the far north east.

I'd be happy to discuss this more with you. Your goals are important too. If you want a front lawn and a garage, you want to be far north east. If you want city night life, you want to be closer to center city, like fishtown. Also when you say house hack, are you looking to buy a multi? prices will vary in each area. If you are looking to buy a 4bed home and rent rooms to friends, that changes things too. Again. Lets connect and discuss!