Neither East Marlborough nor New London asks a seller for anything at resale: no inspection, no certificate, no fee. The catch in Unionville country is never municipal. It is the well test, the septic record, the conservation easement, and, in East Marlborough specifically, a school district line that decides whether a household pays an earned income tax at all.
The two-township picture
East Marlborough holds Unionville village, Willowdale, and the horse farms that give the Unionville-Chadds Ford district its postcard. New London, south along Route 896, offers Avon Grove schools and acreage at friendlier numbers, with a municipal tax rate of one mill. Both sell on documentation, because out here the buyer’s inspector is the only inspector.
No inspection, private diligence
- The file replaces the certificate. A recent well test, a septic pumping record, and permit history on barns and outbuildings answer the questions no township office will ask here.
- Easements travel with the deed. Conservation easements and Act 319 farmland enrollment carry restrictions and rollback exposure a buyer must understand before attorney review, not after.
- New London stayed hands-off. The township once studied a U&O ordinance and never adopted it; there is no rental inspection either.
The district line in East Marlborough
Most of the township feeds Unionville-Chadds Ford; a portion feeds Kennett Consolidated, and Kennett levies an earned income tax that neither the township nor UCFSD imposes. The tax bill, not the mailing address, settles which side a house is on.
The Pennsylvania money
Both townships sit at the standard 2% total realty transfer tax, customarily split, so the seller’s half on a $750,000 sale is $7,500. Pennsylvania withholds nothing at settlement, and longtime owners of appreciated Unionville acreage should check their gain against the federal exclusion, $250,000 single and $500,000 married, with a basis file of improvement receipts ready. The home-sale tax guide walks through the math.
Getting started
The Unionville-country order: a free valuation, the well and septic records assembled, the easement map pulled, and the school district confirmed from the tax bill before the listing is written. Nearby, the Unionville townships guide covers Pocopson, Pennsbury, Birmingham, and West Marlborough, the Avon Grove guide the townships around New London, and the Chester County downsizing guide maps where sellers here land next.