House report

526 Emily St

3 bd · 1 ba · 2 stories · 1,120 sqft · RSA5 · built 1920

Owner-occupied · assessed $290K · sold 4×. On the 500 block of Emily St.

Street view of 526 Emily 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 $40K in 2005, alteration permit in 2016, sold for $289K in 2025 (+622%).

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 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.

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.

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
$290K
built 1920
Price / sq ft
$259
block $240 · above block
Appreciation
+229%
+11%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$292K
+11%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$3K
0.92% effective
Gross yield
6.9%
≈$2K/mo rent
Times sold
4

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

$0$250K$500KBefore this chart — 2005: Sold $40K2016: Sold $57K 2016: Alteration 2016: Plumbing2017: Mechanical 2017: Electrical 2017: Sold $240K2023: Alterations2025: Sold $289K$290K201620222027
This houseBlock median & rangeSalePermit

The paper trail

Bought for $40K in 2005, alteration permit in 2016, sold for $289K in 2025 (+622%).

  1. 2005 $40KSold
  2. 2016 $57KSoldAlterationPermitPlumbingPermit
  3. 2017 MechanicalPermitElectricalPermit$240KSold
  4. 2023 AlterationsPermit
  5. 2025 $289KSold

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
1,120 sqft
livable area
Lot
623 sqft
Basement
Full, finished
city code A
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
RSA5
city zoning code

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

Run the numbers

What owning 526 Emily 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.

$289K
20%
6.875%
$2K/mo

When this house last sold (2025) a 30-year mortgage ran about 6.6% — 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

526 Emily St sits on the 500 block of Emily St. Open the block report to compare its parcels, ownership and public-record history.

See the whole block →

Next door: 524 Emily St  ·  528 Emily 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)