New construction
Why it mattersbuilt new under a 2022 permit, sold for $260K in 2020.
View supporting records →Multi-family report
2521 Grays Ferry Ave
3 bd · 2 ba · 2 stories · 2,230 sqft · RSA5 · built 1925
Owner-occupied · assessed $828K · sold 1×. On the 2500 block of Grays Ferry Ave.
Property summary
Assessment$828KCity assessed value
Last sale$260KRecorded 2020
Est. taxes$10K/yearAnnual city record
Permits7Shown in this report
ViolationsNone openNo open L&I cases
What stands out
From the public recordWhat 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 1925: 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 RSA5, 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.)
If you own it
$2,165 in back taxes on record
Interest and penalties keep compounding until a Revenue payment agreement is in place, and a lien is already filed — an owner-occupant agreement also stops the sheriff-sale track.
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
$828K
built 1925
Price / sq ft
$371
block $371 · in line w/ block
Appreciation
+267%
+13%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$833K
+13%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$10K
1.23% effective
Gross yield
4.2%
≈$3K/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 & rangeSaleZoningPermit
The paper trail
New constructionbuilt new under a 2022 permit, sold for $260K in 2020.
- 2020 $260KSold
- 2022 AlterationsPermitAddition and/or AlterationsPermit
- 2023 New ConstructionPermitAddition and/or AlterationPermitAppeal withdrawnZoningAlterationsPermitNew construction, addition, GFA changePermitAppeal granted with conditionsZoning
- 2024 AlterationsPermit
Flags: $2K back taxes (2015–2016, $167 of it interest & penalties, lien filed) · 2 zoning/board appeals on record · 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
3
Bathrooms
2
Stories
2
Interior
2,230 sqft
livable area
Lot
1,160 sqft
Heat
Forced hot air
city code A
Central air
Yes
Exterior condition
Above average
city code 3
Above averageBelow average
Interior condition
New / rehabbed
city code 2
New / rehabbed
Quality grade
C
assessor's grade
ABCDE
Zoning
RSA5
city zoning code
Zoning appeals
2
granted with conditions 2023
OPA field-assessment attributes. Condition and grade are the assessor's codes, not an inspection.
Run the numbers
What owning 2521 Grays Ferry 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.
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
2521 Grays Ferry Ave sits on the 2500 block of Grays Ferry Ave. Open the block report to compare its parcels, ownership and public-record history.
See the whole block →Next door: 2519 Grays Ferry Ave · 2523 Grays Ferry 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
- 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 2521 Grays Ferry Ave,
on paper.
Built 1925. 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)