South Coatesville and Modena sit shoulder to shoulder below Coatesville on the Brandywine’s west branch, and they answer the seller’s first question two different ways. South Coatesville publishes its use and occupancy package. Modena’s answer lives at the borough office.
The seller picture
These are two of Chester County’s smallest boroughs, both in the Coatesville Area School District, both holding housing stock priced well under the county median. Sellers here compete inside the Coatesville-area affordable tier, where buyers are first-timers stretching into ownership and investors who know the rents, and where the municipal paperwork is small but easy to mishandle because so few sales happen in any given year.
South Coatesville: the published package
- The rule. The borough’s forms page states that buying a home or placing new tenants requires a use and occupancy inspection, checking the property against safety and property maintenance standards.
- The application. The U&O application package is published on the same page. File it as soon as the agreement of sale is signed so the inspection and any repair list land early in the timeline instead of against the settlement date.
- The fee. Confirm the current inspection fee with the borough office when you file; the posted fee schedule is under revision, and small boroughs adjust fees by resolution faster than websites update.
Modena: the phone call
What Modena does publish for sellers is the utility side: a 2026 certification request form for refuse, recycling, and sewer fees, the sign-off a title company orders so the accounts settle clean at the table. Landlord sellers should also note the borough’s yearly rental registration fee.
The Pennsylvania money
Both boroughs sit at the standard 2% total realty transfer tax, customarily split, so the seller’s half on a $200,000 sale is $2,000. Pennsylvania withholds nothing at settlement, and at these price points the federal exclusion, $250,000 single and $500,000 married, covers essentially every owner-occupant. The home-sale tax guide and the cost-to-sell guide carry the detail.
Getting started
The order here: a free valuation, the municipal call made in listing week rather than settlement week, the U&O application filed at agreement of sale in South Coatesville, and pricing set against the Coatesville-area tier. The Coatesville guide covers the city next door, the Chester County downsizing guide maps the county, and the sequencing guide settles what to do first.