House report

5518 Master St

4 bd · 1 ba · 2 stories · 1,594 sqft · RSA5 · built 1925

Owner-occupied · assessed $134K (2026) · 2027 OPA assessment $141K · sold 1×. On the 5500 block of Master St.

Street view of 5518 Master St
From the street — imagery © Google
From above · selected parcel outlined; choose a neighboring polygon to open it — imagery © Esri, Maxar
BlockReport AI · cited public records

Ask what this property record means.

Open the research chat with this property already in context. Curated questions are free.

Opens the research chat · 3 custom questions per browser

Property summary

“Open” reflects records available then historical records keep their source dates estimates are labeled

Question or correct this record

BlockReport can explain a discrepancy, but it cannot rewrite an official City record. Use the agency that owns the underlying fact:

The estimate, live balance, and back-tax record are different.

BlockReport can calculate the annual tax from the City’s taxable assessment. Payments, credits, interest, and a current amount due live separately in Philadelphia Tax Center.

Estimated annual Real Estate Tax$1,879/year

2026 taxable assessment $134,200 × 1.3998%. Estimate—not a bill or account balance.

OPA also publishes a 2027 assessment of $140,800; it is not the 2026 billed-year value.

Official current account balanceCheck live

A Tax Center balance is net of bills, payments, credits, interest, and adjustments. A credit—or an amount due—is not automatically “back taxes.”

OPA 041226300
Open Philadelphia Tax Center →Choose “View period balance” to see the tax year and any credit, interest, or delinquency.
Exemption classificationNo exemption shown

2026 taxable assessment equals the full assessed value.

Historical delinquency sources Record found

This parcel did not match the June 2022 delinquency snapshot. That absence does not confirm the account is current today.

A separate historical parcel ledger ending in 2016 records $1,440.45 and a lien entry. It is shown as historical context only.

2015$927.04 total · $594.83 principal · $62.46 interest · $41.64 penalty2016$513.41 total · $387.95 principal · $5.82 interest · $3.88 penalty

For a purchase, refinance, or closing, request the City’s official Property Payoff statement in Tax Center under “More options.”

What stands out

From the public record

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 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.

$1,440 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.

Derived from the fetched property records and linked City guidance as of 2026. Assessment treatment is not a substitute for an exemption approval, live balance, title report, license, occupancy certificate, or inspection. Informational only — not legal, tax, or investment advice.

The investment read

How this house has moved and where it's pointed: every fetched annual City assessment, charted against its block and ZIP; appreciation includes the full-period compound rate and the latest year-over-year change. The 5-year figure simply extends that historical pace. Yield estimates rent-vs-price from area rents. Ask the record to dig into any number.

Assessed value
$134,200
2026 billed-year assessment · 2027: $140,800 · built 1925
Price / sq ft
$88
block $101 · below block
Appreciation
+160%
+9%/yr since 2016 · 2027 +5% vs 2026
In 5 years (~2032)
~$217K
+9%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax bill / yr
$1,879
1.33% effective
Jun 2022 tax snapshot
No match
not proof the account is current
Gross yield
12.5%
≈$1K/mo rent
Times sold
1

Assessment vs. the block and ZIP · every dated City record marked on the line

$0$100K$200KZIP 19131 median$141K200720112015201920232027
Property assessmentBlock median & rangeZIP 19131 medianAssessmentDeed / saleL&I violationPermitInspection

Each icon sits on its recorded date; records without a day are labeled and centered within their year. Select one to explain the filing.

Highlight
Every dated record7 events · exact dates, newest first
  1. Deed / saleDeed / sale $5K
  2. L&I violationPERM - MUST POST
  3. L&I violationBLDG PERMIT REQUIRED
  4. PermitDemolition
  5. L&I violationROOF PARTIALLY COLLAPSED
  6. L&I violationVACANT BLDG UNSEC/UNSAFE CSU
  7. InspectionCSUINITIAL

The paper trail

Bought for $5K in 2024. Owner pulled a demolition permit in 2013.

  1. 2007 2 L&I violations incl VACANT BLDG UNSEC/UNSAFE CSUL&I
  2. 2013 2 L&I violationsL&IDemolitionPermit
  3. 2024 $5KSold

Browse the source ledger

The chart above is the primary timeline. This drawer preserves every underlying dated row and its filed status for source-level review.

Open the City record ↗
Browse 7 dated records deeds, permits, inspections, licenses, violations, certifications & appeals
  1. Recorded transfer$5K transfer

    2024

  2. ViolationPERM - MUST POST

    Case 504964 · Violation 3000420 · Code A-302.8/30 · CLOSEDCASE

    City marked the case closed; that does not mean the original condition never existed.

  3. ViolationBLDG PERMIT REQUIRED

    Case 504964 · Violation 3000421 · Code A-501.1/1 · CLOSEDCASE

    City marked the case closed; that does not mean the original condition never existed.

  4. PermitDemolition

    Permit 504964 · EXPIRED

    INTERIOR DEMOLITION OF NON LOAD BEARING WALLS AND CEILING ONLY. NO OTHER WORK ALLOWED UNDER THIS PERMIT. CONTACT STREETS DEPARTMENT FOR DUMPSTER PERMIT AND FOOTWAY CLOSURE.

  5. ViolationROOF PARTIALLY COLLAPSED

    Case 120448 · Violation 623913 · Code PM-307.1/3 · COMPLIED

    City marked this violation complied with; check the resolution date and live case for what was accepted.

  6. ViolationVACANT BLDG UNSEC/UNSAFE CSU

    Case 120448 · Violation 623912 · Code PM-307.1/19 · COMPLIED

    City marked this violation complied with; check the resolution date and live case for what was accepted.

  7. InvestigationCSUINITIAL

    Case 120448 · CLOSED

    City marked the record closed; open the case for the closing reason.

What this record suggests

The City file documents 1 permit. Status needs checking in the official file; that documents the filing, not the present quality of the work.

Flags: historical tax ledger through 2016 recorded $1K with a lien entry. Informational only — not investment advice or a consumer report (FCRA).

The property, on paper

The city assessor's field record — the physical spec sheet behind the assessed number.

Bedrooms
4
Bathrooms
1
Stories
2
Interior
1,594 sqft
livable area
Lot
1,215 sqft
Exterior condition
Average
city code 4
Interior condition
Average
city code 4
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 5518 Master 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 the area median. Assessed value is not an asking price — set the price slider to the real one.

$141K
20%
6.875%
$1K/mo
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 use this parcel's taxable assessment, not a live Tax Center balance.

Block context

5518 Master St sits on the 5500 block of Master St. Open the block report to compare its parcels, ownership and public-record history.

See the whole block →

Next door: 5516 Master St  ·  5520 Master St

Where this comes from

Methodology & freshness

This report was assembled Jul 10, 2026, 6:07 PM ET. Available City datasets are queried from OpenDataPhilly (phl.carto.com) and the cited City ArcGIS feeds; record queries paginate rather than silently taking a first page. For this property: Permits: queried · Violations: queried · Investigations: queried · Appeals: queried · Licenses: queried · Building certifications: queried. “Unavailable” means the source query failed or was not supplied, not “no record.” Reports re-pull on view after seven days and on an overnight rolling schedule; citywide benchmarks recompute weekly. Source dates still govern: the parcel-level tax-delinquency snapshot is June 2022 and the separate detailed tax ledger ends in 2016, so neither establishes today’s balance. The live balance and date-effective payoff must be verified in Tax Center. AI-written passages are grounded in the assembled record and rejected if they state a number the record does not hold.

Official city record ↗  ·  L&I history ↗  ·  See the whole block  ·  Download this record (JSON)