The Block Report

House report

1520 S Beulah St

2 bd · 1 ba · 2 stories · 740 sqft · RSA5 · built 1920

Owner-occupied · assessed $321K · sold 5×. On the 1500 block of S Beulah St.

Property summary

Assessment$321KCity assessed value Last sale$342KRecorded 2023 Est. annual tax$4K/yearAssessment × 1.3998% Tax delinquency—Snapshot unavailable Permits2Dated events in report ViolationsNone openNone open when assembled

“Open” reflects records available then historical records keep their source dates estimates are labeled

BlockReport AI · cited public records

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Street view of 1520 S Beulah St
From the street — imagery © Google
From above — imagery © Esri, Maxar

What stands out

From the public record
Finding

Renovated & sold on

Why it matters

Bought for $7K in 2000, alteration permit in 2012, sold for $342K in 2023 (+4794%).

View supporting records →

Records to verify together

Rule-based groupings across this property's dated public records. Each flag shows the records that belong in the same verification step and where the inference stops.

Dated record flagAssessment/permit mismatch

The assessment jumped 63% in 2020, but no matching permit appears in the property timeline.

Evidence: assessment moved from $141,700 to $231,200 · no permit shown in 2019-2021

Limit: Not proof of unpermitted work; reassessment, corrected data, or a permit under another parcel can also explain it.

Transparent record rules, not a score or forecast. Each flag is a prompt to verify the cited records, 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 1920: 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.

If you own it

$1,399/yr may be unclaimed

This home reads owner-occupied but shows no Homestead Exemption, which removes $100,000 from the taxable assessment (worth up to $1,399/yr). Applying through the City is free and takes minutes.

Construction next door (1518 S Beulah St, 2025)

Excavation deeper than 5 feet, or within 10 feet of an adjacent structure, legally requires the developer to survey neighboring homes first and give owners 10 days' written notice. Insist on the pre-construction survey — it is your evidence if cracks appear.

If you’re the landlord

Lead certificate is not optional

Built 1920: every rental unit needs a lead-safe or lead-free certificate on file with the City. Without one: fines up to $2,000/day per unit, tenants may withhold rent, courts can order rent refunded — and no eviction will stand.

Licensed rental — keep it that way

Renewal requires city tax clearance and zero open L&I violations on the property. A lapsed license suspends the right to collect rent or evict.

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
$321K
built 1920
Price / sq ft
$434
block $265 · above block
Appreciation
+187%
+10%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$323K
+10%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$4K
1.4% effective
Jun 2022 tax snapshot
—
Gross yield
6%
≈$2K/mo rent
Times sold
5
licensed rental

Value vs. the block, over time — sales, permits & L&I events marked on the line

$0$250K$500KBefore this chart — 2000: Sold $7K 2005: Sold $85K 2012: Sold $61K 2012: Alteration2017: Plumbing2018: Sold $287K2023: Sold $342K$321K201620222027
This houseBlock median & rangeSalePermit

The paper trail

Renovated & sold on

Bought for $7K in 2000, alteration permit in 2012, sold for $342K in 2023 (+4794%).

  1. 2000 $7KSold
  2. 2005 $85KSold
  3. 2012 $61KSoldAlterationPermit
  4. 2017 PlumbingPermit
  5. 2018 $287KSold
  6. 2023 $342KSold

Flags: active rental license. 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
2
Bathrooms
1
Stories
2
Interior
740 sqft
livable area
Lot
522 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
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 1520 S Beulah St takes, at your price and your rate. Taxes start with an annual estimate from the City’s taxable assessment, not a current bill or balance; rent starts at the area median. Assessed value is not an asking price — set the price slider to the real one.

$342K
20%
6.875%
$2K/mo

When this house last sold (2023) a 30-year mortgage ran about 6.81% — Freddie Mac's average that year.

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

1520 S Beulah St sits on the 1500 block of S Beulah St. Open the block report to compare its parcels, ownership and public-record history.

See the whole block →

Next door: 1518 S Beulah St  ·  1522 S Beulah St

Where this comes from
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.

Official city record ↗  ·  L&I history ↗  ·  See the whole block  ·  Download this record (JSON)