House report
5514 Lancaster Ave
3 bd · 1 ba · 2 stories · 840 sqft · CMX2 · built 1925
Owner-occupied · assessed $91K · sold 5×. On the 5500 block of Lancaster Ave.
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
Today's $0/yr reflects a 10-year abatement. It steps up every year and reaches about $1,278/yr in 2036 — $1,278/yr more. Price the full bill, not the current one.
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 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
An abated home cannot also take the Homestead Exemption. From 2036 it can — knocking about $1,400/yr off the full bill.
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.
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.
Value vs. the block, over time — sales, permits & L&I events marked on the line
Bought for $50K in 2006, built new (tax-abated), sold for $150K in 2024.
- 2006 $50KSold
- 2009 3 L&I violationsL&I
- 2011 $16KSold
- 2013 $8KSold
- 2019 L&I violationL&I
- 2020 $65KSold
- 2024 $150KSold
Flags: tax-abated — the bill lags real value · $2K back taxes (2015–2016, $157 of it interest & penalties, lien filed) · long-held within one family. Informational only — not investment advice or a consumer report (FCRA).
The abatement clock
This house pays about $0/yr under a 10-year tax abatement that steps down every year. In 2036 the bill reaches its full ~$1,278/yr — a step up of $1,278/yr, 9 assessment years out. Drag the slider.
now: ($91,300 assessed − $91,300 abated) × 1.3998% ≈ $0/yr
2036: $91,300 assessed × 1.3998% ≈ $1,278/yr
The abated slice shrinks ~10% a year (post-2022 program, started 2026) — reassessments move both lines. After expiry an owner-occupant can claim the Homestead Exemption (~$1,400/yr off); an abated home can't hold both.
The house, on paper
The city assessor's field record — the physical spec sheet behind the assessed number.
OPA field-assessment attributes. Condition and grade are the assessor's codes, not an inspection.
Run the numbers
What owning 5514 Lancaster 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 (2024) a 30-year mortgage ran about 6.72% — Freddie Mac's average that year.
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 (with the abatement toggle above).
Next door: 5512 Lancaster Ave · 5516 Lancaster 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
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.
First time here?
This is 5514 Lancaster 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.
Who owns what, what they paid, what they built, what they owe. Scroll and it's all here — the paid part is not the data.
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)