House report

3950 N 9th St

3 bd · 1 ba · 2 stories · 1,024 sqft · RSA6 · built 1920

Absentee individual · assessed $116K · sold 1×. On the 3900 block of N 9th St.

Street view of 3950 N 9th 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

Built 1920: 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.

Zoned RSA6: one household by right

Single-family attached, small lot. 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’re the landlord

Lead certificate is not optional

Built 1920: every rental unit needs a lead-safe or lead-free certificate on file with the City. Without one: fines up to $2,000/day per unit, tenants may withhold rent, courts can order rent refunded — and no eviction will stand.

Licensed rental — keep it that way

Renewal requires city tax clearance and zero open L&I violations on the property. A lapsed license suspends the right to collect rent or evict.

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.

Who's behind it

Al-Leafread Foster · absentee owner

• Holds an active rental license for this address

City record ↗

The good part · AI research analyst

Ask anything about this house

Everything on this page is one question away from more. The analyst searches all 580,000+ Philadelphia properties, live — every deed, permit, violation, tax bill, license, zoning appeal, school and crime record — and answers with the sources it checked. Not a chatbot reading this page: it runs the city's records for you.

The questions above run free, no card. Typed questions come with membership — free to start, cancel anytime.

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

$116K

built 1920

Price / sq ft

$113

block $105 · above block

Appreciation

+85%

+6%/yr, city 6.5%

In 5 years (~2031)

~$117K

+6%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast

Est. tax / yr

$2K

1.4% effective

Gross yield

—

Times sold

licensed rental

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

This houseBlock median & rangePermit

The paper trailNew construction

built new under a 2019 permit, sold for $6K in 2000.

2000 $6KSold
2019 New ConstructionPermit
2023 AlterationsPermit

Flags: active rental license. 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

Bathrooms

Stories

Interior

1,024 sqft

livable area

Lot

816 sqft

Exterior condition

Average

city code 4

Above averageBelow average

Interior condition

Average

city code 4

Above averageBelow average

Quality grade

assessor's grade

ABCDE

Zoning

RSA6

city zoning code

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

Run the numbers

What owning 3950 N 9th 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.

Purchase price$116K

Down payment20%

Mortgage rate6.875%

Monthly rent$825/mo

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: 3948 N 9th St · 3952 N 9th 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

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.

I research this house against all 580,000+ Philadelphia property records, live — assessments, deeds, permits, violations, taxes, licenses, zoning appeals, schools, crime, and 311. Tap a question below to try me free; your own questions come with membership (free to start).

About this data & fine print

Answers are generated by an AI agent querying City of Philadelphia open data at the moment you ask: OPA property assessments, Recorder of Deeds transfer records, L&I permits, violations & licenses, Dept. of Revenue tax balances, Zoning Board appeals, Police incident reports, Philly311 requests, and School District of Philadelphia catchment and school data.

City data is published as-is and can lag, contain errors, or be corrected later; school performance datasets run years behind and are labeled with their school year. AI answers can contain mistakes — verify anything that matters against the official record (property.phila.gov, atlas.phila.gov) before acting on it.

Informational only. Not legal, financial, or investment advice. Not a consumer report under the FCRA — it may not be used to decide anyone's eligibility for housing, tenancy, employment, credit, or insurance.

Official city record ↗ · L&I history ↗ · See the whole block · Download this record (JSON)