House report

879 N Orkney St

3 bd · 3 stories · 2,250 sqft · RSA5 · built 2023

Owner-occupied · assessed $1.3M · sold 2×. On the 800 block of N Orkney St.

Street view of 879 N Orkney St — From the street — imagery © Google

From above — imagery © Esri, Maxar

Property summary

Assessment$1.3MCity assessed value Last sale$1.3MRecorded 2023 Est. taxes$4K/yearAnnual city record Permits8Shown in this report ViolationsNone openNo open L&I cases

What stands out

From the public record

Finding

New construction

Why it matters

Bought for $295K in 2013, built new under a 2021 permit (tax-abated), sold for $1.3M in 2023.

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

The tax bill is temporary

Today's $3,583/yr reflects a 10-year abatement. It steps up every year and reaches about $17,917/yr in 2035 — $14,334/yr more. Price the full bill, not the current one.

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

When the abatement ends, file for Homestead

An abated home cannot also take the Homestead Exemption. From 2035 it can — knocking about $1,400/yr off the full bill.

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

$1.3M

built 2023

Price / sq ft

$569

block $429 · above block

Appreciation

+4712%

+42%/yr, city 6.5%

In 5 years (~2031)

~$1.3M

+42%/yr own pace held 5 yrs — extrapolation, not a forecast

Est. tax / yr

$4K

0.28% effective, abated

Gross yield

—

Times sold

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

This houseBlock median & rangeSaleL&I violationZoningPermit

The paper trail

New construction

Bought for $295K in 2013, built new under a 2021 permit (tax-abated), sold for $1.3M in 2023.

2013 $295KLand buy
2016 2 L&I violationsL&I
2020 Appeal completeZoning
2021 New ConstructionPermitNew Construction or AdditionsPermitNew Construction or AdditionsPermitNew ConstructionPermitNew Construction or AdditionsPermit
2022 Addition and/or AlterationPermitNew ConstructionPermitNew ConstructionPermit
2023 $1.3MSold

Flags: tax-abated — the bill lags real value · 1 zoning/board appeal on record. Informational only — not investment advice or a consumer report (FCRA).

The abatement clock

This house pays about $3,583/yr under a 10-year tax abatement that steps down every year. In 2035 the bill reaches its full ~$17,917/yr — a step up of $14,334/yr, 8 assessment years out. Drag the slider.

2027~$3,583/yrfrom the record

now: ($1,280,000 assessed − $1,024,035 abated) × 1.3998% ≈ $3,583/yr 2035: $1,280,000 assessed × 1.3998% ≈ $17,917/yr The abated slice shrinks ~10% a year (post-2022 program, started 2025) — 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.

Bedrooms

Stories

Interior

2,250 sqft

livable area

Lot

860 sqft

Basement

Full, finished

city code A

Heat

Forced hot air

city code A

Central air

Yes

Garage

1 space

Exterior condition

Newer construction

city code 1

Newer construction

Interior condition

Newer construction

city code 1

Newer construction

Zoning

RSA5

city zoning code

Zoning appeals

complete 2020

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

Run the numbers

What owning 879 N Orkney 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.

Purchase price$1.3M

Down payment20%

Mortgage rate6.875%

Monthly rent$9K/mo

When this house last sold (2023) a 30-year mortgage ran about 6.81% — Freddie Mac's average that year.

Price it at the post-abatement bill (~$18K/yr from 2035)

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 (with the abatement toggle above).

Block context

879 N Orkney St sits on the 800 block of N Orkney St. Open the block report to compare its parcels, ownership and public-record history.

See the whole block →

Next door: 877 N Orkney St · 873 N Orkney 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
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

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.

Ask the recordCited city records | AI-assisted

Ask a cited due-diligence question about this property. BlockReport connects the public record - deeds, permits, violations, taxes, ownership, and comparable context - then explains what matters. Try 3 deep research questions with no card or account required.

About this data & fine print

Answers are generated by an AI agent querying City of Philadelphia open data at the moment you ask: OPA property assessments, Recorder of Deeds transfer records, L&I permits, violations & licenses, Dept. of Revenue tax balances, Zoning Board appeals, Police incident reports, Philly311 requests, and School District of Philadelphia catchment and school data.

City data is published as-is and can lag, contain errors, or be corrected later; school performance datasets run years behind and are labeled with their school year. AI answers can contain mistakes — verify anything that matters against the official record (property.phila.gov, atlas.phila.gov) before acting on it.

Informational only. Not legal, financial, or investment advice. Not a consumer report under the FCRA — it may not be used to decide anyone's eligibility for housing, tenancy, employment, credit, or insurance.

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

879 N Orkney St

Property summary

What stands out

New construction

What to do with this

If you’re buying

If you own it

The investment read

The paper trail

The abatement clock

The house, on paper

Run the numbers

Block context

Where this comes from

This is 879 N Orkney St,
on paper.

The whole record is free.

What to catch on the way down.