Public Records
Edition
Philadelphia500 block of Jackson StJuly 9, 2026

House report

502 Jackson St

2 bd · 1 ba · 2 stories · 1,080 sqft · CMX1 · built 1920

Owner-occupied · assessed $260K · sold 6×. On the 500 block of Jackson St.

Street view of 502 Jackson 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.

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 own it

$1,399/yr may be unclaimed

This home reads owner-occupied but shows no Homestead Exemption, which removes $100,000 from the taxable assessment (worth up to $1,399/yr). Applying through the City is free and takes minutes.

$6,440 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 (537 Jackson St, 2026)

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.

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.

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
$260K
built 1920
Price / sq ft
$241
block $146 · above block
Appreciation
+115%
+7%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$261K
+7%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$4K
1.4% effective
Gross yield
Times sold
6
kept in the family

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

$0$250K$500KBefore this chart — 2001: Sold $18K 2005: Sold $48K 2005: Sold $70K 2008: Sold $150K 2013: Sold $136K2017: Sold $198K$260K201620222027
This houseBlock median & rangeSalePermit
The paper trail

Traded 6×: $18K in 2001 → $198K in 2017 (+1000%).

  1. 2001 $18KSold
  2. 2005 $48KSold$70KSold
  3. 2008 $150KSold
  4. 2013 $136KSold
  5. 2017 $198KSold

Flags: active rental license · $6K back taxes (2014–2016, $754 of it interest & penalties, lien filed) · 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
2
Bathrooms
1
Stories
2
Interior
1,080 sqft
livable area
Lot
534 sqft
Basement
Full, unfinished
city code C
Heat
Forced hot air
city code A
Central air
Yes
Exterior condition
Above average
city code 3
Interior condition
Above average
city code 3
Quality grade
C
assessor's grade
Zoning
CMX1
city zoning code

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

Run the numbers

What owning 502 Jackson 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.

$260K
20%
6.875%
$2K/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: 500 Jackson St  ·  501-35 Jackson 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)