House report

153 E Chelten Ave

3,981 sqft · CMX2.5 · built 1926

Owner-occupied · assessed $287K · sold 2×. On the 100 block of E Chelten Ave.

Street view of 153 E Chelten Ave — From the street — imagery © Google

From above — imagery © Esri, Maxar

The story of this houseAI · written from the public record

Reading this house's deeds, permits and assessments…

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 1926: 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.

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.

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.

Who's behind it

153 Bowen Real Estate LLC

• Owns 5 properties across Philadelphia under this name, assessed at $1.2M combined

City record ↗

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 analyst below to dig into any number.

Assessed value

$287K

built 1926

Price / sq ft

$72

block $72 · in line w/ block

Appreciation

-53%

-7%/yr, city 6.5%

In 5 years (~2031)

~$286K

-7%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast

Est. tax / yr

$4K

1.4% effective

Gross yield

—

Times sold

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

This houseBlock median & rangeL&I violationPermit

The paper trailImproved

Bought for $23K in 2004. Owner pulled a commercial make safe permit permit in 2024.

2004 $23KSold
2009 12 L&I violationsL&I
2010 4 L&I violationsL&I
2011 $75KSold
2024 3 L&I violations incl UNSAFE STRUCTUREL&ICommercial Make Safe PermitPermit

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.

Interior

3,981 sqft

livable area

Lot

2,427 sqft

Exterior condition

Average

city code 4

Above averageBelow average

Interior condition

Average

city code 4

Above averageBelow average

Quality grade

assessor's grade

ABCDE

Zoning

CMX2.5

city zoning code

OPA field-assessment attributes. Condition and grade are the assessor's codes, not an inspection.

Run the numbers

What owning 153 E Chelten Ave 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.

Purchase price$287K

Down payment20%

Mortgage rate6.875%

Monthly rent$2K/mo

When this house last sold (2011) a 30-year mortgage ran about 4.45% — 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.

Next door: 155-57 E Chelten Ave · 159 E Chelten Ave

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
Back taxes & liens — Real Estate Tax Balances, Dept. of 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

City datasets are fetched live from OpenDataPhilly (phl.carto.com) and cached briefly. AI-written passages are generated from these records only and rejected if they state a number the record doesn't hold.

I research this house against all 580,000+ Philadelphia property records, live — assessments, deeds, permits, violations, taxes, licenses, zoning appeals, schools, crime, and 311. Tap a question below to try me free; your own questions come with membership (free to start).

About this data & fine print

Answers are generated by an AI agent querying City of Philadelphia open data at the moment you ask: OPA property assessments, Recorder of Deeds transfer records, L&I permits, violations & licenses, Dept. of Revenue tax balances, Zoning Board appeals, Police incident reports, Philly311 requests, and School District of Philadelphia catchment and school data.

City data is published as-is and can lag, contain errors, or be corrected later; school performance datasets run years behind and are labeled with their school year. AI answers can contain mistakes — verify anything that matters against the official record (property.phila.gov, atlas.phila.gov) before acting on it.

Informational only. Not legal, financial, or investment advice. Not a consumer report under the FCRA — it may not be used to decide anyone's eligibility for housing, tenancy, employment, credit, or insurance.

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

153 E Chelten Ave

What to do with this

If you’re buying

If you own it

Who's behind it

The investment read

The house, on paper

Run the numbers

Where this comes from

This is 153 E Chelten Ave,
on paper.

The whole record is free.

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