Public Records
Edition
Philadelphia3800 block of Brown StJuly 9, 2026

House report

3851 Brown St

Vacant · assessed $45K · sold 1×. On the 3800 block of Brown St.

Street view of 3851 Brown St
From the street — imagery © Google
From above — imagery © Esri, Maxar
The story of this houseAI · written from the public record

Reading this house's deeds, permits and assessments…

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

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.

If you own it

$2,016 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 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 analyst below to dig into any number.

Assessed value
$45K
Price / sq ft
block $114 ·
Appreciation
-3%
0%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$45K
0%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$629
1.4% effective
Gross yield
Times sold
1

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

$0$100K$200KBefore this chart — 2014: Sold $13K2019: 3 L&I violations2022: 5 L&I violations incl INTERIOR UNSAFE GENERAL2023: Addition and/or Alteration2024: Appeal complete 2024: Alterations 2024: City Demolition 2024: Demolished$45K201620222027
This houseBlock median & rangeTeardownL&I violationPermit
The paper trail

Bought for $13K in 2014. Owner pulled a city demolition permit in 2024.

  1. 2014 $13KSold
  2. 2019 3 L&I violationsL&I
  3. 2022 5 L&I violations incl INTERIOR UNSAFE GENERALL&I
  4. 2023 Addition and/or AlterationPermit
  5. 2024 Appeal completeZoningAlterationsPermitCity DemolitionPermitDemolishedTeardown

Flags: $2K back taxes (2015–2016, $143 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.

Lot
1,312 sqft
Zoning
RSA5
city zoning code
Zoning appeals
1
complete 2024

OPA field-assessment attributes. Condition and grade are the assessor's codes, not an inspection.

Run the numbers

What owning 3851 Brown 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.

$45K
20%
6.875%
$700/mo

When this house last sold (2014) a 30-year mortgage ran about 4.17% — Freddie Mac's average that year.

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.

Next door: 3849 Brown St  ·  3847 Brown St

Where this comes from

City datasets are fetched live from OpenDataPhilly (phl.carto.com) and cached briefly. 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)