New construction
Why it mattersBought for $1K in 2019, built new under a 2019 permit, sold for $500K in 2020.
View supporting records →House report
1516 E Berks St
4 bd · 2 ba · 1 story · 1,668 sqft · RSA5 · built 1925
Owner-occupied · assessed $570K · sold 2×. On the 1500 block of E Berks St.
Property summary
Assessment$570KCity assessed value
Last sale$500KRecorded 2020
Est. annual tax$7K/yearAssessment × 1.3998%
Tax delinquencyNo 2022 matchNot proof account is current
Permits6Shown in this report
ViolationsNone openNo open L&I cases
Historical tax record
Verify the current balance before relying on it.
This parcel did not match the June 2022 delinquency snapshot. That absence does not confirm the account is current today.
A separate historical parcel ledger ending in 2016 records $14K and a lien entry. It is shown as historical context only.
Verify current balance with Philadelphia Revenue →What stands out
From the public recordWhat the record is signaling
Early patterns mined across this property's dated public records. Each flag shows what triggered it and where the inference stops.
Assessment/permit mismatch
The assessment jumped 84% in 2023, but no matching permit appears in the property timeline.
Evidence: assessment moved from $283,300 to $522,400 · no permit shown in 2022-2024
Limit: Not proof of unpermitted work; reassessment, corrected data, or a permit under another parcel can also explain it.
Transparent record rules, not a machine-learning forecast. A signal is a prompt to verify the cited record, not a prediction or allegation.
What to do with this
The record, translated into moves — what a buyer, the owner, and a landlord would each want to check next under Philadelphia's actual rules.
If you’re buying
Built 1925: lead rules apply
Federal law requires a lead-paint disclosure at sale for any pre-1978 home. If it will be rented, Philadelphia also requires a lead-safe or lead-free certificate before a rental license can issue.
Zoned RSA5: one household by right
Single-family rowhouse (the classic Philly row). Converting to a duplex or apartments needs a use variance the zoning board rarely grants — Pennsylvania courts require a physical hardship of the lot itself, and economics alone do not qualify.
The last transfer was not a sale
The most recent recorded deed moved for nominal consideration, within one family. That is where tangled-title problems live — budget a real title search. (Occupants untangling an inherited deed can get help from the city's Tangled Title Fund.)
If you own it
$13,788 in the historical tax ledger through 2016
Historical context only, not a current payoff figure; that ledger also contains a lien entry. Verify today's balance and lien status directly with Philadelphia Revenue before relying on it.
Derived from this house's public records and the city's rules as of 2026 (abatement ordinance, Homestead, rental licensing, lead certification, L&I process, excavation protections). Informational only — not legal, tax, or investment advice.
The investment read
How this house has moved and where it's pointed: the city's assessed value (not a listing price) over 12 years, charted against its block; appreciation is that history's pace, and the 5-year figure simply extends it. Yield estimates rent-vs-price from area rents. Ask the record to dig into any number.
Assessed value
$570K
built 1925
Price / sq ft
$342
block $295 · above block
Appreciation
+166%
+9%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$573K
+9%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$7K
1.15% effective
Jun 2022 tax snapshot
No match
not proof the account is current
Gross yield
3.5%
≈$2K/mo rent
Times sold
2
kept in the family
Value vs. the block, over time — sales, permits & L&I events marked on the line
This houseBlock median & rangeSale
The paper trail
New constructionBought for $1K in 2019, built new under a 2019 permit, sold for $500K in 2020.
- 2019 $1KSoldInterior Non-Load-Bearing Wall Demo.PermitNew ConstructionPermitAlterationsPermitNew ConstructionPermitZoningPermitAddition and/or AlterationPermit
- 2020 $500KSold
Flags: historical tax ledger through 2016 recorded $14K with a lien entry · long-held within one family. Informational only — not investment advice or a consumer report (FCRA).
The house, on paper
The city assessor's field record — the physical spec sheet behind the assessed number.
Bedrooms
4
Bathrooms
2
Stories
1
Interior
1,668 sqft
livable area
Lot
1,075 sqft
Basement
Full, finished
city code A
Heat
Forced hot air
city code A
Central air
Yes
Exterior condition
New / rehabbed
city code 2
New / rehabbed
Interior condition
New / rehabbed
city code 2
New / rehabbed
Quality grade
C+
assessor's grade
ABCDE
Zoning
RSA5
city zoning code
OPA field-assessment attributes. Condition and grade are the assessor's codes, not an inspection.
Run the numbers
What owning 1516 E Berks St takes, at your price and your rate. Taxes are this house's actual bill from the city record; rent starts at the area median. Assessed value is not an asking price — set the price slider to the real one.
Mortgage
—
P&I · 30-yr fixed
All-in monthly
—
+ taxes & insurance
Cash to close
—
down + ~4% costs
Cash flow
—
rent − all costs · /mo
Cap rate
—
NOI ÷ price
Cash-on-cash
—
year-1 return on cash in
Estimates for orientation, not advice. Assumes a 30-year fixed loan, $1,400/yr insurance, 1% of price/yr maintenance; taxes from this parcel's record.
Block context
1516 E Berks St sits on the 1500 block of E Berks St. Open the block report to compare its parcels, ownership and public-record history.
See the whole block →Next door: 1514 E Berks St · 1518 E Berks St
Where this comes from
- Assessment, spec sheet & owner — OPA Property Assessments, Office of Property Assessment
- Sales & deed history — Realty Transfer Tax records, Recorder of Deeds
- Permits, violations & inspections — L&I Property History · Atlas
- Tax delinquency snapshot · June 2022 — Real Estate Tax Delinquencies, Dept. of Revenue
- Historical tax ledger & liens · through 2016 — Real Estate Tax Balances, Dept. of Revenue
- Current property-tax balance — Verify with Philadelphia Revenue
- Zoning appeals — L&I & Zoning Board appeals
- Neighborhood income & rents — US Census ACS 5-year estimates
- Historical mortgage rates — Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, annual averages
- Imagery — Street photo © Google · Aerial © Esri, Maxar
Methodology & freshness
Available City datasets are queried from OpenDataPhilly (phl.carto.com), then reports are cached and refreshed on a rolling schedule. Source dates vary: the parcel-level tax-delinquency snapshot is June 2022 and the separate detailed tax ledger ends in 2016, so neither establishes today’s balance. Other dossiers re-pull on view once stale, and citywide benchmarks recompute weekly. AI-written passages are generated from these records only and rejected if they state a number the record doesn't hold.
First time here?
This is 1516 E Berks St,
on paper.
Built 1925. Every deed, permit, L&I visit, tax bill and sale for this house — plus its whole block.
No signup, no teaser
The whole record is free.
Permits, violations, taxes, deeds, ownership, and block context are all here. The public record is free to read; membership is for deeper research.
Three taps, you're oriented
What to catch on the way down.
On the way down: the story of the house, its paper trail drawn on the value chart, and run-the-numbers, a calculator seeded with this house's actual tax bill.
Official city record ↗ · L&I history ↗ · See the whole block · Download this record (JSON)