Four of Delaware County’s smallest boroughs run four of its most particular resale processes. Aldan wants sixty days and the owner in the room. Colwyn sends a camera down the lateral and asks for roof and termite letters. East Lansdowne tests for lead. Millbourne, a tenth of a square mile, is the simplest of the group. Small does not mean casual here; it means the checklist has your name on it.
The four-borough picture
Aldan, Colwyn, and East Lansdowne sit in William Penn schools west of Darby Creek; Millbourne hugs the 69th Street terminal in Upper Darby schools. All four trade in twins, rows, and compact singles priced for first-time buyers and investors, and all four put an inspector between the agreement of sale and the closing table.
Aldan: sixty days and two certificates
Aldan’s process starts earliest: the appointment request goes in sixty days before settlement, the owner or a representative attends, and the $100 inspection is joined by chimney and electrical certifications. The borough enforces permits-before-work and can withhold the certificate where repairs skipped the permit desk.
Colwyn: the specialist reports
- The lateral is on camera. Colwyn’s $75 inspection includes a sewer lateral video scope; schedule the plumber when you schedule the photographer.
- Three letters. Fireplace, roof, and termite certifications accompany the application, and deed registration is required at the borough office.
- Agents are on the hook. A borough ordinance holds the agents on both sides responsible for the certificate, so nobody at the table has an incentive to let it slide to settlement week.
East Lansdowne: the lead test
East Lansdowne pairs a conventional $100 inspection, two weeks of processing, and a six-month certificate with the county’s most consequential add-on: lead paint testing for pre-1978 homes under Ordinance 613, performed by a certified risk assessor. A lead-free certification follows the property forever; a lead-safe one satisfies the resale. In a borough built almost entirely before 1978, this is effectively every sale, so the assessment belongs in listing week, not settlement week.
Millbourne: two visits, one fee
Millbourne charges $75 and the fee covers the first and second inspections, the gentlest failure math in the county. The buyer pool here rides the Market-Frankford Line, and clean, code-ready homes near the terminal move fast at their price point.
The Pennsylvania money
All four boroughs sit at the standard 2% total realty transfer tax, customarily split, so the seller’s half on a $200,000 sale is $2,000. Pennsylvania withholds nothing at settlement, and the federal exclusion, $250,000 single and $500,000 married, covers owner-occupants here comfortably. The home-sale tax guide and the cost-to-sell guide carry the detail.
Getting started
The four-borough order: a free valuation, the borough’s clock respected, sixty days in Aldan, thirty in Colwyn, two weeks in East Lansdowne, and the specialist reports scheduled alongside the photography. Next door, the Lansdowne guide and the Yeadon guide cover the larger neighbors, and the Delaware County downsizing guide maps where sellers here land next.