Improved
Why it mattersOwner pulled a major alteration permit in 2014.
View supporting records →House report
238 S 3rd St
2 bd · 2 ba · 1 story · 2,710 sqft · RM1 · built 1900
Owner-occupied · assessed $855K. On the 200 block of S 3rd St.
Property summary
Assessment$855KCity assessed value
Last sale—No sale value available
Est. taxes$11K/yearAnnual city record
Permits1Shown in this report
ViolationsNone openNo open L&I cases
What stands out
From the public record"Built 1900" is usually a placeholder
Why it mattersPhiladelphia records use 1900 as a stand-in when the real construction year was never documented. Treat the age as unknown, not as 120+ years.
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 1900: 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.
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’re the landlord
Lead certificate is not optional
Built 1900: 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
$855K
built 1900
Price / sq ft
$315
block $499 · below block
Appreciation
+42%
+3%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$856K
+3%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$11K
1.24% effective
Gross yield
2.8%
≈$2K/mo rent
Times sold
0
licensed rental
Value vs. the block, over time — sales, permits & L&I events marked on the line
This houseBlock median & rangePermit
The paper trail
ImprovedOwner pulled a major alteration permit in 2014.
- 2014 Major alterationPermit
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
2
Stories
1
Interior
2,710 sqft
livable area
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
RM1
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.
"Built 1900" is usually a placeholder
Philadelphia records use 1900 as a stand-in when the real construction year was never documented. Treat the age as unknown, not as 120+ years.
Run the numbers
What owning 238 S 3rd 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
238 S 3rd St sits on the 200 block of S 3rd St. Open the block report to compare its parcels, ownership and public-record history.
See the whole block →Next door: 238 S 3rd St · 238 S 3rd 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 238 S 3rd St,
on paper.
Built 1900. 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)