The Block Report

House report

1617 N Marston St

3 bd · 1 ba · 2 stories · 900 sqft · RSA5 · built 1915

Owner-occupied · assessed $110K. On the 1600 block of N Marston St.

Property summary

Assessment$110KCity assessed value Last sale—No sale value available Est. annual tax$2K/yearAssessment × 1.3998% Tax delinquency$25KCity snapshot · Jun 2022 Permits2Dated events in report Violations3Open when report 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 1617 N Marston St
From the street — imagery © Google
From above — imagery © Esri, Maxar

Verify the current balance before relying on it.

$25K was recorded for this parcel in Philadelphia's June 2022 delinquency snapshot. That amount may have been paid, reduced, or increased since; it is not a current payoff figure.

A separate historical parcel ledger ending in 2016 records $18K and a lien entry. It is shown as historical context only.

Verify current balance with Philadelphia Revenue →

What stands out

From the public record

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 flagRecords to verify together

Several independent, separately dated records stack up here and deserve prompt verification.

Evidence: 3 open L&I violations · $25,195 appeared in the City's June 2022 delinquency snapshot · a lien number appears in the historical tax ledger through 2016 · failed L&I inspection activity in 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026

Limit: A screening signal, not a foreclosure prediction. Tax entries are historical and must be verified with Philadelphia Revenue.

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 1915: 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. 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

$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.

3 open violations: the clock matters

L&I appeals must be filed within 30 days — just 6 days if a property is designated UNSAFE or IMMINENTLY DANGEROUS. Left unresolved, the city can do the work itself, bill the owner (routinely $50,000+ on a rowhouse), lien the property, and add court fines of $300+/day.

$17,820 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
$110K
built 1915
Price / sq ft
$122
block $163 · below block
Appreciation
+790%
+22%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$111K
+22%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$2K
1.4% effective
Jun 2022 tax snapshot
$25K
delinquency recorded then · verify current
Gross yield
-7305936.1%
≈$-667M/mo rent
Times sold
0

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

$0$250K$500K2020: Alterations 2020: Minor Demolition 2020: Demolished2023: 2 L&I violations 2023: Inspection failed ×22024: 2 L&I violations 2024: Inspection failed ×22025: 2 L&I violations 2025: L&I: 2 failed, 1 passed2026: 2 L&I violations 2026: Inspection failed$110K201620222027
This houseBlock median & rangeTeardownL&I violation

The paper trail

Improved

Owner pulled a minor demolition permit in 2020.

  1. 2020 AlterationsPermitMinor DemolitionPermitDemolishedTeardown
  2. 2023 2 L&I violationsL&IInspection failed ×2L&I visit
  3. 2024 2 L&I violationsL&IInspection failed ×2L&I visit
  4. 2025 2 L&I violationsL&IL&I: 2 failed, 1 passedL&I visit
  5. 2026 2 L&I violationsL&IInspection failedL&I visit

Flags: 3 open L&I violations · $25K recorded in the June 2022 delinquency snapshot — verify current balance · historical tax ledger through 2016 recorded $18K with a lien entry. 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
3
Bathrooms
1
Stories
2
Interior
900 sqft
livable area
Lot
972 sqft
Exterior condition
Below average
city code 5
Interior condition
Average
city code 4
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 1617 N Marston 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.

$110K
20%
6.875%
$700/mo
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

1617 N Marston St sits on the 1600 block of N Marston St. Open the block report to compare its parcels, ownership and public-record history.

See the whole block →

Next door: 1615 N Marston St  ·  1619 N Marston 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)