The Block ReportBlockReport

Multi-family report

4220 Chester Ave

3 stories · 3,600 sqft · RTA1 · built 1930

Owner-occupied · assessed $853K. On the 4200 block of Chester Ave.

Street view of 4220 Chester Ave
From the street — imagery © Google
From above — imagery © Esri, Maxar

Property summary

Assessment$853KCity assessed value Last sale$104KRecorded 1999 Est. taxes$3K/yearAnnual city record Permits1Shown in this report ViolationsNone openNo open L&I cases

What stands out

From the public record

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

The tax bill is temporary

Today's $2,541/yr reflects a 10-year abatement. It jumps to about $11,946/yr by 2026 — $9,405/yr more. Price the full bill, not the current one.

Built 1930: 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

When the abatement ends, file for Homestead

An abated home cannot also take the Homestead Exemption. From 2026 it can — knocking about $1,400/yr off the full bill.

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 building 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
$853K
built 1930
Price / sq ft
$237
block $225 · above block
Appreciation
+132%
+8%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$857K
+8%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$3K
0.3% effective, abated
Gross yield
1.7%
≈$1K/mo rent
Times sold
0

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

$0$500K$1.0MBefore this chart — 2014: 19 L&I violations 2014: L&I: 4 failed, 1 passed2017: 2 L&I violations 2017: L&I: 4 failed, 2 passed2018: Inspection failed2021: Roof Covering Replacement2025: L&I violation 2025: Inspection failed$853K201620222027
This houseBlock median & rangeL&I violationPermitInspection

The paper trail

New construction

built new under a 2021 permit (tax-abated).

  1. 2014 19 L&I violationsL&IL&I: 4 failed, 1 passedL&I visit
  2. 2017 2 L&I violationsL&IL&I: 4 failed, 2 passedL&I visit
  3. 2018 Inspection failedL&I visit
  4. 2021 Roof Covering ReplacementPermit
  5. 2025 L&I violationL&IInspection failedL&I visit

Flags: tax-abated — the bill lags real value. Informational only — not investment advice or a consumer report (FCRA).

The abatement clock

This house pays about $2,541/yr under a 10-year tax abatement. By 2026 the bill reaches its full ~$11,946/yr — a step up of $9,405/yr. Drag the slider.

2016: ~$2,541/yr2017: ~$2,541/yr2018: ~$2,541/yr2019: ~$2,541/yr2020: ~$2,541/yr2021: ~$2,541/yr2022: ~$2,541/yr2023: ~$2,541/yr2024: ~$2,541/yr2025: ~$2,541/yr2026: ~$2,541/yr2027: ~$2,541/yr201620262027
2027~$2,541/yrfrom the record

now: ($853,400 assessed − $671,874 abated) × 1.3998% ≈ $2,541/yr 2026: $853,400 assessed × 1.3998% ≈ $11,946/yr Flat 100% exemption (pre-2022 program, started 2016), 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.

Stories
3
Interior
3,600 sqft
livable area
Lot
4,413 sqft
Basement
Full
city code D
Exterior condition
Average
city code 4
Interior condition
Average
city code 4
Quality grade
C+
assessor's grade
Zoning
RTA1
city zoning code

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

Run the numbers

What owning 4220 Chester 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.

$853K
20%
6.875%
$1K/mo

When this house last sold (1999) a 30-year mortgage ran about 7.44% — 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 (with the abatement toggle above).

Block context

4220 Chester Ave sits on the 4200 block of Chester Ave. Open the block report to compare its parcels, ownership and public-record history.

See the whole block →

Next door: 4218 Chester Ave  ·  4222 Chester Ave

Where this comes from

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.

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