House report

5009 N Penn St

5 bd · 4 ba · 3 stories · 2,664 sqft · RSA3 · built 1900

Absentee individual · assessed $245K · sold 3×. On the 5000 block of N Penn St.

Street view of 5009 N Penn St
From the street — imagery © Google
From above — imagery © Esri, Maxar

Property summary

What stands out

From the public record
Finding

Renovated & sold on

Why it matters

Bought for $96K in 2014, use permit in 2009, sold for $230K in 2024 (+206%).

View supporting records →
Finding

"Built 1900" is usually a placeholder

Why it matters

Philadelphia records use 1900 as a stand-in when the real construction year was never documented. Treat the age as unknown, not as 120+ years.

View supporting records →

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 1900: 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 RSA3: one household by right

Single-family attached. 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.

The last transfer was not a sale

The most recent recorded deed moved for nominal consideration, within one family. That is where tangled-title problems live — budget a real title search. (Occupants untangling an inherited deed can get help from the city's Tangled Title Fund.)

If you’re the landlord

Lead certificate is not optional

Built 1900: 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.

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 record to dig into any number.

Assessed value
$245K
built 1900
Price / sq ft
$92
block $105 · below block
Appreciation
+82%
+6%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$245K
+6%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$3K
1.4% effective
Gross yield
Times sold
3
kept in the family

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

$0$250K$500KBefore this chart — 2009: Appeal granted with conditions 2009: Use 2009: Major alteration 2010: 6 L&I violations 2011: Electrical 2011: Administrative 2011: 2 L&I violations 2011: Plumbing 2012: 3 L&I violations 2014: Sold $96K2024: 4 L&I violations incl UNSAFE STRUCTURE 2024: Sold $230K$245K201620222027
This houseBlock median & rangeSalePermit

The paper trail

Bought for $96K in 2014, use permit in 2009, sold for $230K in 2024 (+206%).

  1. 2009 Appeal granted with conditionsZoningUsePermitMajor alterationPermit
  2. 2010 6 L&I violationsL&I
  3. 2011 ElectricalPermitAdministrativePermit2 L&I violationsL&IPlumbingPermit
  4. 2012 3 L&I violationsL&I
  5. 2014 $96KSold
  6. 2024 4 L&I violations incl UNSAFE STRUCTUREL&I$230KSold

Flags: active rental license · 1 zoning/board appeal on record · long-held within one family. 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
5
Bathrooms
4
Stories
3
Interior
2,664 sqft
livable area
Lot
3,109 sqft
Basement
Full, unfinished
city code C
Heat
Radiant
city code G
Central air
No
Exterior condition
Average
city code 4
Interior condition
Average
city code 4
Quality grade
C
assessor's grade
Zoning
RSA3
city zoning code
Zoning appeals
1
granted with conditions 2009

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

Where the record looks off

Places where the city's own paperwork disagrees with itself. These are flags on the data — not problems with the property.

"Built 1900" is usually a placeholder

Philadelphia records use 1900 as a stand-in when the real construction year was never documented. Treat the age as unknown, not as 120+ years.

Run the numbers

What owning 5009 N Penn 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.

$245K
20%
6.875%
$2K/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.

Block context

5009 N Penn St sits on the 5000 block of N Penn St. Open the block report to compare its parcels, ownership and public-record history.

See the whole block →

Next door: 5007 N Penn St  ·  5011-15 N Penn St

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)