Public Records
Edition
Philadelphia3900 block of Brown StJuly 9, 2026

House report

3934 Brown St

Vacant · assessed $48K · sold 1×. On the 3900 block of Brown St.

Street view of 3934 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…

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
$48K
Price / sq ft
—
block $122 ·
Appreciation
+545%
+18%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$48K
+18%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$668
1.4% effective
Gross yield
—
Times sold
1

Value vs. the block, over time

$0$100K$200K$48K201620222027
This houseBlock median & range
The paper trailImproved

Bought for $14K in 2017.

  1. 2007 4 L&I violationsL&I
  2. 2011 3 L&I violationsL&I
  3. 2012 3 L&I violationsL&IDemolishedTeardown
  4. 2014 2 L&I violationsL&I
  5. 2017 $14KSold

Flags: $20K back taxes (2000–2016, $7K of it interest & penalties, lien filed). Informational only — not investment advice or a consumer report (FCRA).

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

$20,126 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.

Construction next door (3933 Brown St, 2024)

Excavation deeper than 5 feet, or within 10 feet of an adjacent structure, legally requires the developer to survey neighboring homes first and give owners 10 days' written notice. Insist on the pre-construction survey — it is your evidence if cracks appear.

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.

Run the numbers

What owning 3934 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.

$48K
20%
6.875%
$700/mo

When this house last sold (2017) a 30-year mortgage ran about 3.99% — 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: 3932 Brown St  ·  3936 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)