Philadelphia Real Estate Blog – Philadelphia Blighted Properties

There was a great editorial by an an unnamed source which noted the efforts the City of Philadelphia has been going to to combat blight in the Philadelphia real estate community.  The City of Philadelphia can fine $300 per day for each nonfunctional door or window.  State of Pennsylvania law allows the City of Philadelphia the ability to place a lien on both the property and the owner’s personal assets.  Recently however, the City is using a group of property blight researchers to identify and tag the properties.  The The Department of Licenses and Inspections notifies the owners of the offending properties that they must appear in blight court regardless of if they live in or out of state.  To date 400 blighted home owners have paid the City $150,000 in fines, fees and back taxes.  According to the editorial, an analysis by Econsult Corp.showed that the vacant buildings cost about $8,000 per household in reduced property value or $3.6 Billion in the entire City of Philadelphia.  That’s a huge burden placed on the Philadelphia real estate community and each individual Philadelphia neighborhood both financially and aesthetically.

This program is sure to have a huge effect on transitioning Center City neighborhoods like Northern Liberties, Chinatown, Loft District, and the edges of the Art Museum Area and Graduate Hospital.  As the blighted properties are razed or beautified, the blocks will fill in, each block will look more complete, and property values on those streets will increase.  This is definitely exciting news for Philadelphia real estate agents.

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Blog post compliments of CenterCityTeam’s Philadelphia Real Estate Blog

Frank L. DeFazio, Esquire
Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors – Society Hill
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