House report
2123 S 5th St
3 bd · 3 ba · 3 stories · 2,290 sqft · RSA5 · built 2021
Owner-occupied · assessed $537K · sold 4×. On the 2100 block of S 5th St.
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
Today's $1,504/yr reflects a 10-year abatement. It jumps to about $7,520/yr in 2032 — $6,016/yr more. Price the full bill, not the current one.
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
An abated home cannot also take the Homestead Exemption. From 2032 it can — knocking about $1,400/yr off the full bill.
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.
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.
Value vs. the block, over time — sales, permits & L&I events marked on the line
Bought for $10K in 2018, built new under a 2018 permit (tax-abated), sold for $454K in 2021.
- 2018 $10KLand buyZoning/usePermit
- 2019 2 L&I violationsL&I$195KLand buyNew ConstructionPermitZoning/usePermitAmend for conversionPermit
- 2020 New ConstructionPermitNew Construction or AdditionsPermitNew ConstructionPermitNew ConstructionPermit
- 2021 $454KSold
Flags: tax-abated — the bill lags real value · 2 open L&I violations · $2K back taxes (2012–2016, $260 of it interest & penalties, lien filed). Informational only — not investment advice or a consumer report (FCRA).
The abatement clock
This house pays about $1,504/yr under a 10-year tax abatement. In 2032 the bill reaches its full ~$7,520/yr — a step up of $6,016/yr, 5 assessment years out. Drag the slider.
now: ($537,200 assessed − $429,756 abated) × 1.3998% ≈ $1,504/yr
2032: $537,200 assessed × 1.3998% ≈ $7,520/yr
Flat 100% exemption (pre-2022 program, started 2022), then the cliff — reassessments move both lines. After expiry an owner-occupant can claim the Homestead Exemption (~$1,400/yr off); an abated home can't hold both.
The house, on paper
The city assessor's field record — the physical spec sheet behind the assessed number.
OPA field-assessment attributes. Condition and grade are the assessor's codes, not an inspection.
Run the numbers
What owning 2123 S 5th 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.
When this house last sold (2021) a 30-year mortgage ran about 2.96% — Freddie Mac's average that year.
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 (with the abatement toggle above).
Next door: 2125 S 5th St · 2127 S 5th 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
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.
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This is 2123 S 5th St,
on paper.
Built 2021. Every deed, permit, L&I visit, tax bill and sale for this house — plus its whole block.
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Who owns what, what they paid, what they built, what they owe. Scroll and it's all here — the paid part is not the data.
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Official city record ↗ · L&I history ↗ · See the whole block · Download this record (JSON)