Improved
Why it mattersBought for $30K in 2018. Owner pulled a addition and/or alteration permit in 2020.
View supporting records →House report
526 W Cambria St
3 stories · 1,276 sqft · RSA5 · built 1920
Absentee individual · assessed $121K · 2 licensed units · sold 1×. On the 500 block of W Cambria St.
Property summary
Assessment$121KCity assessed value
Last sale$30KRecorded 2018
Est. annual tax$2K/yearAssessment × 1.3998%
Tax delinquency—Snapshot unavailable
Permits2Dated events in report
ViolationsNone openNone open when assembled
“Open” reflects records available then historical records keep their source dates estimates are labeled
BlockReport AI · cited public records
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Question or correct this record
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Historical tax record
Verify the current balance before relying on it.
The June 2022 delinquency snapshot was not verifiably available in this cached report. No conclusion about a match—or today’s balance—can be drawn from that absence.
A separate historical parcel ledger ending in 2016 records $543 and a lien entry. It is shown as historical context only.
Verify current balance with Philadelphia Revenue →What stands out
From the public recordRecords to verify together
Rule-based groupings across this property's dated public records. Each flag shows the records that belong in the same verification step and where the inference stops.
Assessment/permit mismatch
The assessment jumped 118% in 2025, but no matching permit appears in the property timeline.
Evidence: assessment moved from $57,400 to $124,900 · no permit shown in 2024-2026
Limit: Not proof of unpermitted work; reassessment, corrected data, or a permit under another parcel can also explain it.
Transparent record rules, not a score or forecast. Each flag is a prompt to verify the cited records, not a prediction or allegation.
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.
2 units in RSA5, a single-family district
The building's use almost certainly predates today's code — a "legal nonconforming" use. That status survives a sale but can lapse if the use is abandoned or the building sits vacant; verify the registered use with L&I before pricing it as 2 rents.
If you own it
$543 in the historical tax ledger through 2016
Historical context only, not a current payoff figure; that ledger also contains a lien entry. Verify today's balance and lien status directly with Philadelphia Revenue before relying on it.
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 record to dig into any number.
Assessed value
$121K
built 1920
Price / sq ft
$95
block $95 · in line w/ block
Appreciation
+117%
+7%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$122K
+7%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$2K
1.4% effective
Jun 2022 tax snapshot
—
Gross yield
-6600660.1%
≈$-667M/mo rent
Times sold
1
kept in the family
Value vs. the block, over time — sales, permits & L&I events marked on the line
This houseBlock median & rangeSaleL&I violationPermitInspection
The paper trail
ImprovedBought for $30K in 2018. Owner pulled a addition and/or alteration permit in 2020.
- 2018 3 L&I violationsL&IInspection failedL&I visit$30KSold
- 2019 2 L&I violationsL&IL&I: 3 failed, 1 passedL&I visitAppeal grantedZoning
- 2020 UsePermitAddition and/or AlterationPermit
- 2022 Inspection passedL&I visit
Flags: active rental license · historical tax ledger through 2016 recorded $543 with a lien entry · 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.
Stories
3
Interior
1,276 sqft
livable area
Lot
714 sqft
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
Zoning appeals
1
granted 2019
OPA field-assessment attributes. Condition and grade are the assessor's codes, not an inspection.
Run the numbers
What owning 526 W Cambria St takes, at your price and your rate. Taxes start with an annual estimate from the City’s taxable assessment, not a current bill or balance; rent starts at 2 licensed units × ~85% of the area's median unit rent — the whole building's income, not one unit's. Assessed value is not an asking price — set the price slider to the real one.
When this house last sold (2018) a 30-year mortgage ran about 4.54% — 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 W Cambria St sits on the 500 block of W Cambria St. Open the block report to compare its parcels, ownership and public-record history.
See the whole block →Next door: 524 W Cambria St · 528 W Cambria St
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
- Tax delinquency snapshot · June 2022 — Real Estate Tax Delinquencies, Dept. of Revenue
- Historical tax ledger & liens · through 2016 — Real Estate Tax Balances, Dept. of Revenue
- Current property-tax balance — Verify with Philadelphia 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
Available City datasets are queried from OpenDataPhilly (phl.carto.com), then reports are cached and refreshed on a rolling schedule. Source dates vary: the parcel-level tax-delinquency snapshot is June 2022 and the separate detailed tax ledger ends in 2016, so neither establishes today’s balance. Other dossiers re-pull on view once stale, 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)