Pocono Mountain Vacation Home Location

 As I have said, my business has called for me to both vacation style and year around homes for many years, I feel I'm uniquely qualified to discuss what a person should look for and reasonably expect in purchasing a Pocono Mountain Vacation home. Not being a real estate agent, I can be brutally frank in discussing certain types of homes to avoid and what to reasonably expect for your future vacation home. For many years I've crawled under and around all sorts of homes in the Pocono Mountains. In doing so, I've heard all the complaints imaginable from home owners.

In real estate it is always said that location has the biggest effect upon selling price and ultimately in the home owner's happiness.  Through the years, I've been surprised at how many home owners didn't take the time to compare various locations and jumped on a home solely based upon the selling price.  Unfortunately most regretted that shortly after moving in and then it was too late.

Selecting the Best Location for your vacation home.

In the real world, smart people who shop for a vacation home should also have the fact in mind that someday they might retire to the area, resell the property or maybe move their families here to escape the problems associated with their current locations.

When people from outside this area first start searching for a Pocono Mountain vacation home, they normally fall into one of two categories. The first is the person looking for something that will remind them of their previous location in NJ or NYC or where ever they are originally from. This person is content to search the local listings of Stroudsburg or East Stroudsburg. They get a bit nervous thinking of a community without sidewalks, city water and sewer and street lights. Of course along with that comes the noise, congestion, traffic and many familiar problems they claimed they wanted to leave behind. If you are to drive around these areas or even East Stroudsburg University's location, you could easily be in northern New Jersey.

I'm not judging here, but just be aware that homes in these areas are much like you'll find anywhere in mid size cities and towns in New Jersey or New York. The home shopper in this category is usually expecting lower property taxes and living expenses. Unfortunately, this is normally not the case when all things are taken into consideration. So I do encourage anyone considering to move to this area to do their home work.  There are some beautiful older neighborhoods in Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg where you would think you driving through an older town in northern NJ. 

The second category of home shopper which really falls into the category of Vacation Home shopper as well, is the person seeking to enjoy the true atmosphere of the Pocono Mountains. They want something totally different then what they had been familiar with. Of course this will call for some trade-offs. The first and main trade-off is the fact that you have to drive outside the city areas of Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg.

Many realtors will quickly point out the benefits of living within the city limits or at least near the two major cities. But they fail to mention that many times it can take as long to drive a few blocks as it would to drive a few miles outside the cities. The fact of the matter is that city traffic lights and congestion exists here as well as in northern NJ towns and cities. The truth is that once you are familiar with the back roads, you can easily travel the distance from the Delaware Water Gap toll bridge to Bushkill Falls as it might take you to get to sections of East Stroudsburg. So in my personal opinion, all things being equal, your main decision should be whether you want to live in a typical urban area with which you are probably familiar with or if you would like to live in a rural atmosphere where you can enjoy what this area has to offer. 

The Pocono Mountains are actually divided into several regions. For our points of discussion, we'll focus on the areas closest to the Delaware Water Gap or Milford, PA. One point which influences most of us is the fact that if we are buying a vacation home, we don't want to spend extra hours on the road after crossing over into Pennsylvania. It seems that most development has taken place in Monroe county between Delaware Water Gap and the Mount Pocono area. Some venture farther west or even north up route 402 to the lake region of Wallenpaupack to find housing. These are all beautiful areas but most shopping for a Pocono Mountain vacation home or year around home usually is done with reference to the home's proximity to route 80 for access to New Jersey and New York City.

What's the Deal with Private Communities?

Through the years, many private communities have popped up throughout the Pocono region. They can range from simply a grouping of a dozen or so homes in the forest to gated and secure areas with hundreds of single family homes and townhomes.

Though living behind gates is something that many Americans covet, there are others who find gates and 24-hour guards on duty a bit too restrictive for their live styles.

Of course, there are both benefits and drawbacks to living behind security gates. It is interesting to note that while in many parts of the country, home values average higher in gated communities, this is not generally so in the Pocono Mountains. Generally speaking, I've found homes sell for a bit less then their counterparts outside of communities.  If you are comparing similar homes, similar construction, similar mechanicals and such, you'll find you will get more for you money in the private communities in most cases.

From speaking to hundreds of local home owners, the opinions vary on the value of living in the gated communities. Most home owners accept the community maintenance costs and dues since they appreciate the added security they enjoy living within a small community with local security. In addition the communities generally supply services such as snow plowing, trash removal, central water and sewer, landscaping, and other amenities like swimming pools and recreation centers for members to use.

Obviously, if you purchase a home outside a community, you will only have whatever the local county or town offers in reference to recreation. Plus you'll have to be concerned with a private well, septic tank and additional fees for trash pickup. Another point to consider is the security of your home, especially if it is a vacation or weekend retreat. One point that realtors won't mention is that most areas throughout the Pocono Mountain region depend upon the PA State police for security. I might say that they do an excellent job but being realistic, what good is a burglar alarm if response time is relatively long?  The State police have a huge geographic area to cover.

Personally speaking again, I've found the private community to be a good value. In comparison, I paid more for maintaining a swimming pool year around in NJ then I pay for my annual dues in my community. Plus, I don't have any of the work but only the enjoyment of a beautiful community pool.

What Communities are Recommended?

I know this is purely subjective but most people I've surveyed through the years prefer living within private communities in the Pocono's. Home owners have always spoken very freely with me since I'm at their home to make repairs or upgrades.  I've heard the inside stories from the current home owner's point of view with no other motive then reporting what is currently going on.  With this in mind, I always recommend those new to the area consider the eastern area of the Pocono's ranging from Marshall's Creek north up route 209 to the Bushkill area at least as a starting point for their vacation home search.  From East Stroudsburg driving north on route 209 you will find the Country Club of the Pocono's, Great Bear Estates in the Middle Smithfield area.  Traveling north on Bushkill Falls road in Bushkill you will find The Glen at Tamiment.  All three of these communities offer excellent value in their homes and community, plus all have swimming pools, recreation centers and professionally designed golf courses.  You could not go wrong buying a Pocono Mountain vacation home in any of these locations.

I should add that these three communities are the only ones in which I have received a 100% favorable report and recommendation of current home owners, both townhomes and private homes.  All three offer public water, sewer, trash removal, 24 hour security and beautiful swimming pools and recreation centers.

I realize that there are many other small private communities in the area but these three are selected in regard to their home quality and home owner's satisfaction level.  I should also mention that two of these have average prices of their homes at the upper end of homes you'll find in area with Tamiment being the most reasonable.  While size and construction materials will vary, these communities offer upgraded homes including the most popular features such as master suites, large walk-in closets, fireplaces, maintenance free exteriors, landscaped properties, three or more bathrooms, central air conditioning, just to mention a few.

Reality Check Here: Do not be mislead by low prices in certain areas or some private communities.  I recommend thoroughly investigating a community before making any decisions.  Remember the old saying that "you get what you pay for."  I'd suggest going to the poconorecord.com web site and do a search on old news for a specific community history.

You should also consider that you can find negative reports of most communities this way but in non-private community areas, you'll be hard pressed to research private neighborhoods.

So with all things considered, I only recommend the three communities above with 100% confidence in home owner satisfaction.

Please see "Buying Tips" section for more specific information

Author of this section is Dennis Estelle, owner of A-Plus Home Care
Home Maintenance professional for 30 years