Public Records
Edition
Philadelphia500 block of Lantern LnJuly 9, 2026

House report

512 Lantern Ln

2 ba · 2 stories · 2,358 sqft · RSD3 · built 2000

Owner-occupied · assessed $682K · sold 1×. On the 500 block of Lantern Ln.

Street view of 512 Lantern Ln
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

Zoned RSD3: one household by right

Single-family detached, 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 own it

2 open violations: the clock matters

L&I appeals must be filed within 30 days — just 6 days if a property is designated UNSAFE or IMMINENTLY DANGEROUS. Left unresolved, the city can do the work itself, bill the owner (routinely $50,000+ on a rowhouse), lien the property, and add court fines of $300+/day.

$8,001 in back taxes on record

Interest and penalties keep compounding until a Revenue payment agreement is in place — an owner-occupant agreement also stops the sheriff-sale track.

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
$682K
built 2000
Price / sq ft
$289
block $294 · in line w/ block
Appreciation
+71%
+5%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$683K
+5%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$8K
1.19% effective
Gross yield
Times sold
1

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

$0$500K$1.0MBefore this chart — 2000: Sold $256K2023: Alterations2025: 2 L&I violations2026: L&I violation$682K201620222027
This houseBlock median & rangeL&I violationPermit
The paper trail

Bought for $256K in 2000. Owner pulled a alterations permit in 2023.

  1. 2000 $256KSold
  2. 2023 AlterationsPermit
  3. 2025 2 L&I violationsL&I
  4. 2026 L&I violationL&I

Flags: 2 open L&I violations · $8K back taxes. 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.

Bathrooms
2
Stories
2
Interior
2,358 sqft
livable area
Lot
8,526 sqft
Basement
Basement
city code J
Heat
Forced hot air
city code A
Central air
Yes
Garage
2 spaces
Exterior condition
Above average
city code 3
Interior condition
Above average
city code 3
Quality grade
B-
assessor's grade
Zoning
RSD3
city zoning code

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

Run the numbers

What owning 512 Lantern Ln 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.

$682K
20%
6.875%
$5K/mo

When this house last sold (2000) a 30-year mortgage ran about 8.05% — 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: 510 Lantern Ln  ·  514 Lantern Ln

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)