Upper Southampton and Ivyland share the Centennial school district and a municipal certificate each: the township’s Real Estate Certificate, handled by its Code Enforcement Officer, and the borough’s occupancy certificate, due 72 hours before sale on a carbon form you collect in person. Neither is difficult. Both punish sellers who discover them late.
The Centennial pair
Upper Southampton carries the Street Road and County Line corridors: split-levels, ranches, and colonials from the postwar decades, selling to households that want Centennial schools and two-direction commutes. Ivyland sits inside it like a locket, a Victorian village borough of a few hundred households where a listing is an event. Different scales, same school district, and a certificate apiece before settlement.
Upper Southampton: the Real Estate Certificate
The township lists a Real Estate Certificate among its official Code, Building and Zoning forms, and its directory routes real estate certificate questions to the Code Enforcement Officer at 215-322-9700, extension 123. The posted application and fee schedule are scanned documents, so treat the phone call as part of the process: confirm the current fee, what the review covers, and the lead time in the same week you sign the listing agreement.
Ivyland: the 72-hour carbon form
Ivyland’s housing code requires an occupancy certificate for every sale, obtained no later than 72 hours before occupancy or sale, after an inspection against the borough’s housing standards. The application is a three-part carbon form that cannot be posted online; it is picked up at the borough office, and the two-page heater form can be completed ahead of time. The fee is set by council resolution on the borough fee schedule, so confirm the amount when you collect the form.
- Start the paperwork in person. The carbon form cannot be emailed, and the 72-hour deadline is a floor, not a target. Collect the form when you list.
- Mind the heater form. The two-page heater certification is the one piece that can be prepared in advance; have your HVAC servicer’s information ready.
- Township versus borough. A Southampton 18966 mailing address covers both municipalities and two different processes. The parcel, not the postmark, decides which one governs your sale.
The Pennsylvania money
Both municipalities sit at the standard 2% total realty transfer tax, customarily split, so the seller’s half on a $475,000 sale is $4,750. Pennsylvania withholds nothing at settlement, and the federal exclusion, $250,000 single and $500,000 married, covers most owner-occupants. The home-sale tax guide and the cost-to-sell guide carry the numbers.
Getting started
The order here: a free valuation, the certificate process started the week you list, extension 123 called or the carbon form collected, and the heater and permit files staged. Next door, the Warminster guide covers the third Centennial municipality, the Bucks County downsizing guide maps the county, and the sequencing guide settles what to do first.