Multi-family report

5660 W Berks St

1 story · 2,064 sqft · RSA5 · built 1920

Owner-occupied · assessed $176K · 3 licensed units · sold 1×. On the 5600 block of W Berks St.

Street view of 5660 W Berks St
From the street — imagery © Google
From above — imagery © Esri, Maxar

Property summary

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

The tax bill is temporary

Today's $1,624/yr reflects a 10-year abatement. It steps up every year and reaches about $2,461/yr in 2033 — $837/yr more. Price the full bill, not the current one.

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.

3 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 3 rents.

The last transfer was not a sale

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

When the abatement ends, file for Homestead

An abated home cannot also take the Homestead Exemption. From 2033 it can — knocking about $1,400/yr off the full bill.

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 building 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
$176K
built 1920
Price / sq ft
$85
block $104 · below block
Appreciation
+127%
+8%/yr, city 6.5%
In 5 years (~2031)
~$176K
+8%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast
Est. tax / yr
$2K
0.92% effective, abated
Gross yield
-4550625.7%
≈$-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

$0$100K$200KBefore this chart — 2004: Sold $153K 2014: L&I violation 2014: Inspection failed ×2 2015: L&I violation 2015: Inspection passed2018: L&I: 1 failed, 1 passed$176K201620222027
This houseBlock median & rangePermitInspection

The paper trail

built new (tax-abated), sold for $153K in 2004.

  1. 2004 $153KSold
  2. 2014 L&I violationL&IInspection failed ×2L&I visit
  3. 2015 L&I violationL&IInspection passedL&I visit
  4. 2018 L&I: 1 failed, 1 passedL&I visit

Flags: tax-abated — the bill lags real value · active rental license · long-held within one family. Informational only — not investment advice or a consumer report (FCRA).

The abatement clock

This house pays about $1,624/yr under a 10-year tax abatement that steps down every year. In 2033 the bill reaches its full ~$2,461/yr — a step up of $837/yr, 6 assessment years out. Drag the slider.

2016: ~$1,085/yr2017: ~$1,085/yr2018: ~$1,085/yr2019: ~$1,085/yr2020: ~$1,127/yr2021: ~$1,127/yr2022: ~$497/yr2023: ~$1,357/yr2024: ~$1,357/yr2025: ~$1,234/yr2026: ~$1,234/yr2027: ~$1,624/yr2028: ~$1,764/yr (projected)2029: ~$1,903/yr (projected)2030: ~$2,043/yr (projected)2031: ~$2,182/yr (projected)2032: ~$2,322/yr (projected)2033: ~$2,461/yr (projected)2034: ~$2,461/yr (projected)201620332034
2027~$1,624/yrfrom the record

now: ($175,800 assessed − $59,783 abated) × 1.3998% ≈ $1,624/yr 2033: $175,800 assessed × 1.3998% ≈ $2,461/yr The abated slice shrinks ~10% a year (post-2022 program, started 2023) — 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.

Stories
1
Interior
2,064 sqft
livable area
Lot
1,212 sqft
Basement
Partial
city code H
Heat
Undetermined
city code H
Central air
No
Garage
1 space
Exterior condition
Average
city code 4
Interior condition
Below average
city code 5
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 5660 W Berks St takes, at your price and your rate. Taxes are this building's actual bill from the city record; rent starts at 3 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.

$176K
20%
6.875%
$2K/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, $2,100/yr insurance, 1% of price/yr maintenance; taxes from this parcel's record (with the abatement toggle above).

Block context

5660 W Berks St sits on the 5600 block of W Berks St. Open the block report to compare its parcels, ownership and public-record history.

See the whole block →

Next door: 5658 W Berks St  ·  5656 W Berks 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)