Atglen sits where Chester County runs out, the last borough before the Lancaster line, and its published resale process is one line long: a $45 utility certification for the final water, sewer, and trash balances, paid at settlement. Everything else about selling here is preparation and pricing.
The Atglen seller picture
The borough is small enough that the market conversation is really a western county conversation: Octorara Area schools, the Enola Low Grade Trail, Route 41 to Wilmington and Route 30 to Lancaster, and housing stock that gives buyers a real house with a real yard for less than almost anywhere east of it in the county. Sellers here are often long-tenure owners, and the buyer pool pulls from two counties at once.
The $45 certification
- 01Order the utility certification. The borough’s FAQ states it plainly: selling your property requires a $45 certification of the final water, sewer, and trash balances. Title companies usually order it in settlement prep, but confirm someone actually has.
- 02Settle the balances at the table. The certification exists so the accounts close out clean at settlement and the buyer starts at zero. The $45 fee is collected at settlement alongside the balances.
- 03Call the borough office once. No residential resale inspection is published for a standard sale, and a five-minute call when you list confirms nothing has changed. Small boroughs update requirements faster than they update websites.
What preparation looks like
The Pennsylvania money
Atglen sits at the standard 2% total realty transfer tax, customarily split, so the seller’s half on a $300,000 sale is $3,000. Pennsylvania withholds nothing at settlement, and at borough price points the federal exclusion, $250,000 single and $500,000 married, covers nearly every owner-occupant. The home-sale tax guide and the cost-to-sell guide carry the detail.
Getting started
The Atglen order: a free valuation, the pre-listing walkthrough, the utility certification confirmed during settlement prep, and pricing set against the two-county buyer pool rather than central Chester County comps. Neighboring Parkesburg runs its own process worth reading, the Chester County downsizing guide maps the county, and the sequencing guide settles what to do first.