Tinicum Township holds the last mile of Delaware County before the airport: Essington and Lester rowhomes and twins, marina frontage on the Delaware, and some of the county’s most affordable housing stock. Its resale rule is correspondingly modest, a $75 certificate of occupancy at every change of ownership, with a half-price reinspection rule that rewards sellers who prepare once.
The Essington seller picture
Sellers here are often decades-tenured owners near Governor Printz Boulevard, and buyers include first-timers, airport-corridor workers, and investors, which means the certificate of occupancy and the rental rules both matter. The township runs the process from its Wanamaker Avenue office, schedules inspections by email, and decides within ten working days of a written application, a clock written directly into the code.
The $75 process
- 01File the certificate of occupancy application with the township code enforcement office, per Chapter 96. For an owner-occupied home changing hands the fee is $75, per the application, which asks for the buyer’s name and a working email, since the township schedules the inspection by email.
- 02Close the permit file first. The code requires all appropriate permits obtained, required work completed, and final inspections approved before the certificate issues.
- 03Pass once. A reinspection costs half the initial fee, paid before the appointment is scheduled, and inspections running past an hour meter at $100 per additional hour.
The details that catch sellers
Two more: rentals carry an annual inspection and permit requirement on a separate track, relevant if your property has a tenant or an in-law unit, and the certificate confirms zoning conformity, so an unpermitted conversion surfaces here rather than at the title company. Neighboring Eddystone and Ridley Township run their own, more involved processes.
The Pennsylvania money
Tinicum sits at the standard 2% total realty transfer tax, customarily split, so the seller’s half on a $250,000 sale is $2,500. Pennsylvania withholds nothing at settlement, and at Essington price points the federal exclusion, $250,000 single, $500,000 married, covers nearly every owner-occupant. The home-sale tax guide and the cost-to-sell guide carry the detail.
Getting started
The Tinicum order: a free valuation, the permit history pulled at listing, the $75 application filed with a monitored email address, and the house walked once against the township’s checklist. The Delaware County downsizing guide maps where sellers here land next, and the sequencing guide settles the order of operations.