Hatfield comes in two versions: the borough, a square mile of twins and small singles around the old Main Street, and the township wrapped around it, with postwar splits, newer developments, and the Colmar corridor. Both require resale inspections, and both, unusually, want your sewer lateral on video: the borough for $85 under Ordinance 540, the township for $125 through a municipal authority sign-off with two more reviews stacked on top.
The Hatfield seller picture
This is the affordable heart of the North Penn school district, drawing first-time buyers who cannot reach Lansdale prices and commuters working the Route 309 corridor. Homes are modest, tenure is long, and the borough’s housing stock in particular carries decades-old sewer laterals under its streets, which is precisely what the borough’s camera requirement exists to catch.
The borough: $85 and the lateral on video
Hatfield Borough’s property resale inspection application lays out the process:
- Fee: $85 for the residential resale inspection.
- The lateral: under Ordinance 540, a televised sewer lateral inspection report goes to the borough before the certificate releases, a camera run by your plumber, on your schedule if you start early.
- The checklist: printed on the application itself. Smoke detectors on every floor, in and outside each sleeping area; a sump pump that ejects to daylight, never the sanitary sewer; house numbers at least four inches tall in a contrasting color; no severe sidewalk cracking or heaving; and working plumbing, heating, and electrical.
The township: $125 and three sign-offs
Hatfield Township’s residential U&O application runs $125 with a $50 fee if a second inspection is needed, and the township’s own FAQ describes the scope: a zoning review, a fire inspection, and a Hatfield Township Municipal Authority sewer lateral sign-off, which requires a CCTV video report of the lateral submitted with the application. Two more timing rules shape the calendar: the inspection can only happen within 30 days before closing, and smoke detectors are required in every bedroom plus every level of the house, basement included. A $50 temporary access certificate exists for transactions that need keys before the certificate is final.
The Pennsylvania money
Both Hatfields sit at the standard 2% total realty transfer tax, customarily split, so the seller’s half on a $400,000 sale is $4,000. Pennsylvania withholds nothing at settlement, and the federal exclusion shelters up to $250,000 of gain, $500,000 for couples. The home-sale tax guide and the cost-to-sell guide finish the math.
Where downsizers here go
Hatfield downsizers shop the 55+ communities along the Route 309 and Forty Foot Road corridors, the condos around Lansdale and Souderton, and the county-wide options in the Montgomery County downsizing guide. The sequencing guide handles the sell-first-or-buy-first question.
Getting started
The Hatfield order: confirm borough or township from the tax bill, get a free valuation that prices the North Penn demand correctly, run the lateral camera early if you are in the borough, file the U&O with lead time if you are in the township, and stage repairs before the first inspection rather than after it. The complete downsizing guide takes it from there.