Improved
Why it mattersBought for $29K in 2010. Owner pulled a use permit in 2019.
View supporting records →House report
2943 Kensington Ave
2,722 sqft · CMX2.5 · built 1915
Absentee individual · assessed $128K · sold 1×. On the 2900 block of Kensington Ave.
Property summary
Assessment$128KCity assessed value
Last sale$10KRecorded 2010
Est. taxes$2K/yearAnnual city record
Permits4Shown in this report
Violations5Open 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 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.
If you own it
5 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.
$728 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.
If you’re the landlord
No active rental license on file
If this property is rented, Philadelphia requires a Rental License (via eCLIPSE) — without it a landlord cannot legally collect rent or evict, and tenants can withhold. Licensing needs tax clearance and no open violations.
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
$128K
built 1915
Price / sq ft
$47
block $47 · in line w/ block
Appreciation
+122%
+8%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$128K
+8%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$2K
1.4% effective
Gross yield
—
Times sold
1
Value vs. the block, over time — sales, permits & L&I events marked on the line
This houseBlock median & rangeL&I violationPermit
The paper trail
ImprovedBought for $29K in 2010. Owner pulled a use permit in 2019.
- 2010 $29KSold
- 2014 UsePermit3 L&I violationsL&I
- 2015 UsePermitMajor alterationPermitAppeal grantedZoning
- 2019 UsePermit
- 2022 5 L&I violationsL&I
- 2025 5 L&I violationsL&I
Flags: 5 open L&I violations · $728 back taxes (2014–2016, $52 of it interest & penalties, lien filed) · 1 zoning/board appeal on record. 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
2,722 sqft
livable area
Lot
1,188 sqft
Exterior condition
Below average
city code 5
Above averageBelow average
Interior condition
Below average
city code 5
Above averageBelow average
Quality grade
C
assessor's grade
ABCDE
Zoning
CMX2.5
city zoning code
Zoning appeals
1
granted 2015
OPA field-assessment attributes. Condition and grade are the assessor's codes, not an inspection.
Run the numbers
What owning 2943 Kensington 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
2943 Kensington Ave sits on the 2900 block of Kensington Ave. Open the block report to compare its parcels, ownership and public-record history.
See the whole block →Next door: 2941 Kensington Ave · 2945 Kensington 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 2943 Kensington Ave,
on paper.
Built 1915. 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)