History
Why it matterssold $230K (2005); 2 L&I violations (2017).
View supporting records →Multi-family report
1620 Benson St
4 bd · 2 ba · 1 story · 1,800 sqft · RSA3 · built 1960
Owner-occupied · assessed $372K · sold 1×. On the 1600 block of Benson St.
Property summary
Assessment$372KCity assessed value
Last sale$230KRecorded 2005
Est. taxes$4K/yearAnnual city record
Permits0Shown in this report
ViolationsNone openNo open L&I cases
What stands out
From the public recordHomestead exemption, mail goes elsewhere
Why it mattersThe parcel claims the homestead exemption (owner lives here) while the tax bill mails to 568 Pine Tree Rd, Jenkintown Pa, 19046. Those two facts sit in tension on the record — there can be innocent reasons, but one of them is usually out of date.
View supporting records →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 1960: 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.
Multiple units in RSA3, a single-family district
The building's use almost certainly predates today's code — a "legal nonconforming" use. That status survives a sale but can lapse if the use is abandoned or the building sits vacant; verify the registered use with L&I before pricing it as multiple rents.
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.)
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 building 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
$372K
built 1960
Price / sq ft
$207
block $207 · in line w/ block
Appreciation
+108%
+7%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$373K
+7%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$4K
1.02% effective
Gross yield
3.7%
≈$1K/mo rent
Times sold
1
kept in the family
Value vs. the block, over time — sales, permits & L&I events marked on the line
This houseBlock median & rangeL&I violationPermit
The paper trail
Historysold $230K (2005); 2 L&I violations (2017).
- 2005 $230KSold
- 2017 2 L&I violationsL&I
Flags: 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
1,800 sqft
livable area
Lot
3,521 sqft
Heat
Forced hot air
city code A
Central air
Yes
Exterior condition
Average
city code 4
Above averageBelow average
Interior condition
Average
city code 4
Above averageBelow average
Quality grade
C+
assessor's grade
ABCDE
Zoning
RSA3
city zoning code
OPA field-assessment attributes. Condition and grade are the assessor's codes, not an inspection.
Where the record looks off
Places where the city's own paperwork disagrees with itself. These are flags on the data — not problems with the property.
Homestead exemption, mail goes elsewhere
The parcel claims the homestead exemption (owner lives here) while the tax bill mails to 568 Pine Tree Rd, Jenkintown Pa, 19046. Those two facts sit in tension on the record — there can be innocent reasons, but one of them is usually out of date.
Run the numbers
What owning 1620 Benson 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
1620 Benson St sits on the 1600 block of Benson St. Open the block report to compare its parcels, ownership and public-record history.
See the whole block →Next door: 1618 Benson St · 1622 Benson 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
- 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
- Imagery — Street photo © Google · Aerial © Esri, Maxar
Methodology & freshness
City datasets are fetched live from OpenDataPhilly (phl.carto.com) and cached briefly. Dossiers re-pull automatically — on view once they're a few weeks old, plus a nightly rolling sweep — 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 1620 Benson St,
on paper.
Built 1960. 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)