Improved
Why it mattersBought for $35K in 2002. Owner pulled a plumbing permit in 2014.
View supporting records →House report
523 E Cheltenham Ave
3 bd · 1 ba · 2 stories · 1,188 sqft · RSA5 · built 1925
Owner-occupied · assessed $185K · sold 3×. On the 500 block of E Cheltenham Ave.
Property summary
Assessment$185KCity assessed value
Last sale$56KRecorded 2012
Est. taxes$3K/yearAnnual city record
Permits1Shown in this report
ViolationsNone openNo open L&I cases
What stands out
From the public recordWhat 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 1925: 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 RSA5: one household by right
Single-family rowhouse (the classic Philly row). 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
$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.
If you’re the landlord
Lead certificate is not optional
Built 1925: 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
$185K
built 1925
Price / sq ft
$156
block $159 · in line w/ block
Appreciation
+109%
+7%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$186K
+7%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$3K
1.4% effective
Gross yield
11.9%
≈$2K/mo rent
Times sold
3
licensed rental
Value vs. the block, over time — sales, permits & L&I events marked on the line
This houseBlock median & rangeL&I violationPermit
The paper trail
ImprovedBought for $35K in 2002. Owner pulled a plumbing permit in 2014.
- 2002 $35KSold
- 2007 $130KSold
- 2012 $56KSold
- 2013 L&I: 4 failed, 1 passedL&I visit
- 2014 PlumbingPermitL&I: 4 failed, 2 passedL&I visit
- 2015 2 L&I violationsL&IL&I: 1 failed, 2 passedL&I visit
- 2017 2 L&I violationsL&I
- 2019 2 L&I violationsL&I
- 2026 L&I violationL&IL&I: 1 failed, 1 passedL&I visit
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
3
Bathrooms
1
Stories
2
Interior
1,188 sqft
livable area
Lot
1,492 sqft
Basement
Full
city code D
Heat
Hot water / radiators
city code B
Central air
No
Exterior condition
Average
city code 4
Above averageBelow average
Interior condition
Average
city code 4
Above averageBelow average
Quality grade
C
assessor's grade
ABCDE
Zoning
RSA5
city zoning code
OPA field-assessment attributes. Condition and grade are the assessor's codes, not an inspection.
Run the numbers
What owning 523 E Cheltenham 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.
When this house last sold (2012) a 30-year mortgage ran about 3.66% — 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.
Block context
523 E Cheltenham Ave sits on the 500 block of E Cheltenham Ave. Open the block report to compare its parcels, ownership and public-record history.
See the whole block →Next door: 521 E Cheltenham Ave · 525 E Cheltenham Ave
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
- Imagery — Street photo © Google · Aerial © Esri, Maxar
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.
First time here?
This is 523 E Cheltenham Ave,
on paper.
Built 1925. Every deed, permit, L&I visit, tax bill and sale for this house — plus its whole block.
No signup, no teaser
The whole record is free.
Permits, violations, taxes, deeds, ownership, and block context are all here. The public record is free to read; membership is for deeper research.
Three taps, you're oriented
What to catch on the way down.
On the way down: the story of the house, its paper trail drawn on the value chart, and run-the-numbers, a calculator seeded with this house's actual tax bill.
Official city record ↗ · L&I history ↗ · See the whole block · Download this record (JSON)