Glenolden is classic inner Delco: tight blocks of twins and rowhomes off MacDade Boulevard, the trolley-era grid, and prices that keep first-time buyers coming. It is also the borough whose resale inspection practices ended up in federal court twice, which makes it the right place to explain something every Pennsylvania seller should know: the state law that guarantees your sale can close, failed inspection or not, with no escrow demanded.
The Glenolden seller picture
Buyers are first-timers working the regional rail stop and the MacDade corridor, plus investors in the rowhome stock. Most sellers have owned for decades, and the housing is largely prewar, so the inspection items run to the usual vintage list: detectors, rails, panel covers, and exterior wear. None of it is expensive caught early, and all of it is negotiable leverage handed to the buyer when caught late.
The U&O through the housing office
The borough’s housing standards chapter directs the housing officer to process certificate of occupancy applications, with the inspection fee filed alongside the application and exact amounts set by council resolution. The Suburban Realtors Alliance has cited the residential resale inspection at $150 per unit with $50 reinspections. Confirm the current figure when you request the application, and build the inspection into listing week rather than settlement month.
Act 133: what the borough must give you
After the SRA’s federal lawsuit, Glenolden repealed and replaced its certificate ordinance to conform with the Municipal Code and Ordinance Compliance Act as amended by Act 133. The framework every Pennsylvania point-of-sale town must follow:
- Three outcomes only: a full certificate, a temporary certificate for minor violations, or a temporary access permit for unsafe properties. The inspection cannot simply block your sale.
- Twelve months minimum: repairs required after transfer get at least a year, not 30 days.
- No escrow: a municipality cannot condition the certificate on money held back.
The Pennsylvania money
The realty transfer tax runs 2% total in the borough, so the seller’s customary half on a $230,000 sale is $2,300. No exit withholding applies in Pennsylvania, and the federal exclusion covers up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 for couples. The home-sale tax guide and the cost-to-sell guide run the rest.
Where downsizers here go
Glenolden downsizers look to the one-floor condos of Ridley and Springfield, the elevator buildings near Media, and the fuller map in the Delaware County downsizing guide. The sequencing guide answers the order-of-operations question.
Getting started
The Glenolden order: a free valuation against the MacDade corridor comps, the U&O application requested and filed at listing, the vintage-house basics walked beforehand, and the Act 133 framework kept in mind if the inspection report runs long. The complete downsizing guide handles the rest.