Moving north · Maryland to Pennsylvania
If you're crossing from Maryland into York County, the mechanics of buying are genuinely different. Here are the three that cost people the most money, in plain language.
Before we start
I'm licensed in Pennsylvania only. If you're living in Maryland and buying here, that's exactly the move I work on. If you also need to sell your house in Maryland, that's a licensed Maryland agent's job, and I'm glad to refer you to one.
And this page is about mechanics, not opinions. Transfer tax, tax bills, inspections, deadlines. The things that show up on your settlement sheet or in your mailbox, whichever house you choose.
01 · What changes first
Pennsylvania charges a realty transfer tax of 1% of the value to the Commonwealth. Almost every municipality adds another 1%, split between the town and the school district. So in most of York County you're looking at 2% total, and here it's customarily split between buyer and seller rather than falling to one side.
On a house in the middle of this market that's thousands of dollars, and it's a line most people from out of state don't see coming until they're reading a settlement statement.
Do this: ask your lender to show transfer tax as its own line when you're comparing houses across municipalities. The rate isn't identical everywhere.
In Pennsylvania you're not getting one annual bill. You're getting county, municipal, and school district taxes, each set by a different body with its own millage rate, on their own schedules. School taxes are usually the largest of the three by a wide margin.
Two houses a few miles apart can carry meaningfully different tax bills because they sit in different school districts or municipalities. The listing's tax figure is a starting point, not the answer.
Do this: before you write an offer, look up the actual assessed value and the current millage for that specific parcel. The York County assessment office is the source, not the listing.
Pennsylvania has a homestead and farmstead exclusion that reduces the assessed value used to calculate school taxes on your primary residence. It's an application, not something that happens automatically when you close, and the deadline is March 1.
It's the single most commonly missed item for people buying their first house in Pennsylvania, and missing it means paying more school tax than you owe for a full year.
Do this: put it on your calendar the week you close, and file it with York County Assessment.
02 · The rest of it
Twelve pages, free. It's the conversation I have with every buyer coming up from Maryland, written down so you can read it before we talk.
Get the Moving North guide →I'll email it to you.
Large parts of the county outside the boroughs are on private well and on-lot septic. That changes your inspections, your contingencies, and what you own after closing.
Central Pennsylvania has significant radon levels and testing is routine here rather than exotic. What the test is, and why not to waive it to look competitive.
Settlement is typically handled through a title company, and the disclosure paperwork is Pennsylvania's own. What to ask, and when.
I-83 at 7am is a different road than I-83 at 11am. Drive it at the real hour before you fall in love with anything.
Beautiful old brick and real woodwork, and also plaster and systems replaced in stages. The questions worth asking on anything built before 1980.
A checklist. The homestead filing, all three tax bills, your shutoffs, the septic pump, and PennDOT.
No pressure, ever
If something here raised a question, ask it. I'd rather answer it now than have you find out the expensive way later.
Talk to Christie → How I work with buyers →I'm licensed in Pennsylvania only. If you need to sell a home in Maryland, I'm glad to refer you to a licensed Maryland agent.