Lower Makefield Township, which most people know by its Yardley mailing address, is where a large share of Bucks County’s downsizing equity actually sits: colonials and expanded capes in Pennsbury School District neighborhoods, bought in the eighties and nineties, now carrying decades of appreciation. Selling here is not complicated, but the township has one requirement many owners have never heard of, and the destination question has an answer sitting inside the township itself.
The Lower Makefield seller picture
Buyer demand in Lower Makefield runs on three engines: Pennsbury schools, the I-95 and West Trenton rail commute, and a stock of family-sized homes on real lots that newer construction rarely matches. Bucks County as a whole has the oldest population in the Philadelphia suburbs, with 23.1% of residents 65 or older per Census QuickFacts, and Lower Makefield’s established neighborhoods are full of the longtime owners driving that number. When these houses are prepared and priced with evidence, they attract families quickly; the preparation standard, not the demand, is what separates strong results from average ones.
What the township requires of sellers
Lower Makefield does not require a use-and-occupancy inspection for a residential resale. What its code does require, under Chapter 161 of the township code, is that the seller deliver to the buyer, at or before settlement, a certification of the zoning classification and the legality of the property’s use. The certification sets out restrictions that touch the property, including floodplain designations, conservation and utility easements, and setback requirements.
- Why it exists: parts of the township carry floodplain and easement restrictions along the Delaware canal and creek corridors, and the township wants buyers on notice before they commit.
- What it means for you: order the certification early through your agent or title company. It is paperwork, not an inspection, but leaving it for closing week is how paperwork becomes a delay.
- If you have an open permit: resolve it before listing. Old deck, shed, or finished-basement permits that were never closed out surface during title work at the least convenient time.
Transfer tax and the rest of the money
The realty transfer tax in Lower Makefield totals 2% of the sale price, 1% to the Commonwealth and 1% local, per the Bucks County Recorder of Deeds. Sellers customarily pay half. On the income side, Pennsylvania generally does not tax the gain on a longtime primary residence, and the federal $250,000 single / $500,000 married exclusion covers most households, though decades of Pennsbury-corridor appreciation put some Lower Makefield sellers over the line. The PA/NJ tax guide shows how improvement records shrink a taxable gain, and the cost-to-sell guide covers every other line item.
Where downsizers here go
Lower Makefield is unusual in that its most popular downsizing destination is inside the township: Regency at Yardley, the gated Toll Brothers 55+ community of single homes and carriage-style townhomes with first-floor primary suites and a 12,000 square foot clubhouse. Staying local means keeping doctors, routines, and grandchildren within the same ten minutes, which is why resale demand inside Regency stays strong. The wider Bucks County map, Heritage Creek in Warwick, the Villages of Flowers Mill in Langhorne, Buckingham Springs near New Hope, is covered in our Bucks County downsizing guide, and value-focused downsizers often widen the search into South Jersey, twenty minutes across the river.
Getting the sequence right
A Lower Makefield sale rewards a specific order: valuation first, destination scouting second, preparation third, and the Chapter 161 certification ordered as soon as the listing goes live. The complete downsizing guide lays out the twelve-month version of that plan. For the number that starts it, a free valuation weighs recent Pennsbury-corridor sales against your specific street and condition, with the reasoning shown.