Buying a Rowhome in Philadelphia: What You Need to Know Before You Make an Offer
If you're buying a home in Philadelphia, there's a very good chance you're going to end up looking at a rowhome.
Some are 150 years old. Some were renovated six months ago.
Occasionally, the 150-year-old one is the less concerning of the two.
Welcome to Philadelphia real estate.
Two houses can sit next to each other, look almost identical from the sidewalk, and have absolutely nothing in common once you walk through the front door. One has original floors, updated systems and 100 years of careful maintenance. The other has a beautiful kitchen and an electrical panel that appears to have been installed during the Truman administration.
You'll find rowhomes throughout the city, from historic streets in Queen Village to renovated homes and newer construction in Graduate Hospital.
So before you fall in love with the exposed brick, roof deck and suspiciously photogenic kitchen, here are some of the things Melanie and I think buyers should actually pay attention to.
You're Buying the Block, Not Just the House
This sounds obvious, but it's especially important in Philadelphia because things can change remarkably quickly from one block to another.
Walk around.
Then come back at a different time of day.
Look at parking, traffic, neighboring properties, vacant lots, construction, commercial activity and how well the homes around you are maintained.
And don't assume a house three blocks away is basically in the same location.
Three blocks in Philly can mean a different school catchment, a major street, a commercial corridor, completely different parking and a whole different personality.
Philadelphia is very efficient that way.
If you're still trying to figure out which part of the city fits the way you actually want to live, we put together a separate guide to finding the Philadelphia neighborhood that actually fits your life.
There's something else we look at that buyers don't always think about: what's happening next door.
Because rowhomes share walls, major construction or demolition on an adjoining property can affect yours.
Philadelphia has specific requirements around certain excavation, demolition and construction affecting neighboring properties and party walls. The City's Construction Next Door guidance is worth knowing about if there's significant work happening beside a house you're considering. City of Philadelphia
A beautifully renovated house next to a vacant property that's about to undergo major construction deserves a different conversation than the same house sitting between two well-maintained homes.
You can renovate a kitchen.
You cannot pick up the house and move it six blocks because you later discover you hate the corner.
Old Doesn't Automatically Mean Bad. And Renovated Doesn't Automatically Mean Good.
One of the most common reactions we hear from people relocating to Philadelphia is:
"Wait... this house was built in 1910?"
Yes.
Sometimes 1890.
Sometimes the City's records seem to say, essentially, "It's been here a while."
Age alone isn't the issue.
What matters is how the house has been maintained and what's happened to it over the last hundred-plus years.
A well-maintained old rowhome can be a fantastic house.
Meanwhile, a renovation done three years ago can have beautiful finishes covering work we'd really like to know more about.
That's why we're generally more interested in how a house was renovated than how recently it was renovated.
A new backsplash is nice.
A new backsplash has never once prevented a plumbing leak.
Roofs and Basements Tell You a Lot About a Rowhome
Many Philadelphia rowhomes have flat or low-slope roofs, so we want to understand their condition, drainage and history.
Has it leaked?
Has it been repaired?
Where does the water go?
If there's a roof deck, what's happening underneath it?
A roof deck with skyline views is wonderful.
A roof deck with skyline views sitting on top of a failing roof is considerably less wonderful.
Then we go downstairs.
Philadelphia basements come in many forms:
Beautifully finished.
Clean and unfinished.
A little damp.
And occasionally one that appears to still be waiting for this week's coal delivery.
Some signs of moisture in an old masonry basement aren't automatically catastrophic. But water has to come from somewhere, and we want to understand where it's coming from, whether it keeps happening and how it's being managed.
And if every basement wall has been freshly painted three days before the house went on the market?
We're probably going to become unusually interested in those walls.
Party Walls Are More Important Than Most Buyers Realize
This is one of those Philadelphia things buyers coming from somewhere else may never have thought about.
That wall between you and your neighbor isn't necessarily just your wall.
In many rowhomes, it's a party wall that serves both properties.
That means what happens next door can sometimes matter quite a bit.
Major excavation, structural work, roof work or demolition on an adjoining property can affect shared walls, rooflines, foundations and chimneys. Philadelphia L&I specifically addresses adjoining-property protections and party-wall construction in its guidance for property owners. City of Philadelphia
Again, this isn't a reason to avoid rowhomes.
If it were, we'd have to evacuate half of Philadelphia.
It just means the neighboring properties deserve some attention too.
If we see significant cracking, strange repairs, water traveling along a shared wall or major construction happening next door, we may want somebody with more structural expertise to take a look.
Sometimes inspecting a Philadelphia rowhome involves looking at the house you're buying.
Sometimes it involves looking at the house next door and quietly thinking:
"What exactly is happening over there?"
Don't Just Scope the Sewer. Check the Water Service Line Too.
Most experienced Philadelphia buyers have heard someone recommend a sewer scope.
We generally agree.
A camera goes through the sewer lateral and gives you a much better idea of its condition before you buy the house.
It's not especially glamorous.
There is no HGTV show called America's Sexiest Sewer Laterals.
But it's useful.
Older sewer lines can crack, shift, clog or simply reach the end of their useful life.
Discovering that before settlement gives you information.
Discovering it when sewage starts coming up through your basement floor gives you considerably different information.
There's another pipe buyers often don't think about: the water service line coming into the house.
Philadelphia Water Department maintains records showing whether a residential water service line is categorized as lead, galvanized, non-lead or incomplete. Those service lines are owned by the property owner, and PWD provides an address-searchable Service Line Material Map so buyers and homeowners can check its current records. Philadelphia Water Department
It's not the first thing most buyers think about while deciding whether their sectional will fit in the living room.
But it's worth knowing.
Philadelphia's City Records Can Tell You Things the Listing Can't
One of the tools we regularly use when evaluating a Philadelphia property is the City's Atlas property database.
Atlas can help you research things like permits, Licenses & Inspections records, zoning, deeds and property information associated with an address. Atlas Philly
That becomes particularly useful when a listing says:
"Completely renovated from top to bottom!"
Great.
Let's see what happened between the top and the bottom.
If there was an addition, roof deck, structural change or major renovation, we want to understand the permit history.
The City's Property Sales Certification is another useful piece of the puzzle. It identifies the property's zoning classification, last established use in the zoning record and certain uncorrected City violations. City of Philadelphia
This can be particularly relevant with things like:
Additions
Multi-unit conversions
Parking pads
Roof decks
Basement living spaces
Major renovations
Because there's a meaningful difference between:
"This house has parking."
and:
"The owner has parked there since 2004 and nobody has yelled at him yet."
One is a property feature.
The other is a tradition.
Check Whether It's Historic Before Planning Your HGTV Reveal
Some Philadelphia rowhomes are individually designated historic properties or sit within historic districts.
That can affect what you can change on the exterior.
For properties on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, work can require review by the Philadelphia Historical Commission. Most of its reviews involve exterior changes, including things like facades, roofs, additions and other alterations. City of Philadelphia
So if you're walking through a beautiful 19th-century rowhome thinking:
"First thing I'm doing is replacing all these windows and painting the brick white..."
Maybe hold that thought.
Historic designation isn't necessarily a negative.
In fact, it's part of the reason some of Philadelphia's most beautiful streets still look the way they do.
You just want to learn about it before buying the house instead of during the conversation where your contractor says:
"So... we have a problem."
Older Electrical Systems Can Turn Into an Insurance Question
An inspection of an older Philadelphia home may reveal older wiring, sometimes including knob-and-tube.
That's obviously something you want a qualified electrician to evaluate.
But buyers sometimes focus entirely on the repair cost and forget another question:
How does this affect homeowners insurance?
Different insurers can have different underwriting requirements for older electrical systems, so if something significant turns up during inspection, it's worth speaking with your insurance professional early rather than assuming it will sort itself out three days before closing.
This is one reason I don't love waiting until the last minute to deal with insurance.
There are enough surprises in a Philadelphia real estate transaction already.
We do not need to actively invite more.
Today's Property Tax Bill May Not Be Tomorrow's Property Tax Bill
If the property has unusually low taxes, that's great.
But we also want to know why.
Philadelphia has property-tax abatement programs that can reduce the taxable impact of qualifying improvements or new residential construction for a defined period. The City's property tax abatement information explains the different programs and how long they can last. City of Philadelphia
So when you're looking at the current tax bill, ask:
Is there an abatement?
What type is it?
How much time is left?
What happens when it expires?
A surprisingly low property tax bill is wonderful.
A surprisingly low property tax bill that becomes significantly less surprising two years after you buy the house is something we'd rather know about ahead of time.
It's a little like a promotional cable bill.
Eventually, somebody remembers what it was actually supposed to cost.
Philadelphia property taxes have also been changing for 2027, so if you want a deeper explanation of assessments, market value and tax relief, we put together a separate guide to the Philadelphia 2027 property tax reassessment.
The Inspection Is About Understanding the House, Not Finding Perfection
Older Philadelphia homes are rarely perfect.
If you're waiting for an inspector to emerge from the basement and say:
"Everything looks fantastic. I've literally never seen a house this good."
I wouldn't make dinner reservations around it.
The goal isn't to eliminate every issue.
It's to understand the issues.
An aging water heater, older roof coating or some masonry maintenance may simply become part of your future ownership plan.
Significant structural movement, serious water intrusion, unsafe electrical work or major undocumented renovations are a different conversation.
Depending on the property, that might mean bringing in a roofer, sewer specialist, electrician, structural engineer or another professional.
Not every house needs every specialist.
The house should dictate the due diligence.
And this is ultimately the question Melanie and I want our buyers to answer.
Not:
"Is there anything wrong with this house?"
There probably is.
It's a house.
The better question is:
"Do we understand what's wrong with it, what it's likely to cost, and does the house still make sense for you?"
That's a much more useful way to make a decision.
So, Should You Buy a Philadelphia Rowhome?
Absolutely, if it's the right house for you.
Rowhomes are one of the things that make Philadelphia such a great place to live.
They put you in walkable neighborhoods near restaurants, parks, schools, transit and all the little places that eventually become part of your everyday routine.
They have history.
They have character.
They have quirks.
Sometimes charming quirks.
Sometimes expensive quirks.
And occasionally they have a bathroom in a location that causes Melanie and me to stand there silently for several seconds before one of us finally asks:
"But... why?"
The goal isn't to find a flawless house.
It's to understand what you're buying, know the tradeoffs and make the decision with your eyes open.
If you're still at the beginning of the process, our Philadelphia home-buying guide walks through some of the bigger decisions to think about before and during your search.
Thinking About Buying a Home in Philadelphia?
Melanie and I help buyers look beyond the listing photos and evaluate the house, the block, the City records and the things that aren't always obvious during a 30-minute showing.
No pressure.
No pretending every house is "the one."
And no being distracted by a waterfall island while something mysterious is happening in the basement.
Just a realistic look at whether the property actually makes sense for you.
Eric & Melanie Gerchberg
The Gerchberg Real Estate Team
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