We Buy Houses in Germantown

Do you buy houses in Germantown?

Yes. We buy rowhomes, twins, singles and 2 to 4 unit buildings all over Germantown, whether the house is empty, rented, inherited or falling behind on repairs.

Vivid Properties is a local, family-owned real estate investment company based in the Kensington and Fishtown area. We buy directly for cash, as-is. We are not agents, so there are no commissions and no fees from us. You get a fair written offer, usually within 24 hours, and you choose the closing day.

Which parts of Germantown and the Northwest do you buy in?

All of them. These are the names neighbors use, grouped the way most people think of them.

What are Germantown houses like?

Older than most of the city. Quaker and Mennonite settlers from the Palatinate arrived in 1683, and the village grew up in a line along Germantown Avenue. Market Square has been its center for more than three centuries, and George Washington spent the summers of 1793 and 1794 at the Deshler-Morris House on the square. Most houses standing today came later, but they are still old: planners counted 46.8% of Upper Northwest homes as built before 1939.

In city records, porch-front rows are the most common house in Southwest Germantown, Morton, Wister and East Germantown. Big older twins lead in West Central Germantown and Westside, and Penn Knox is a mix of both.

With houses this age, the big bills are roofs and gutters on large twins, porch roofs and columns on the rows, old boilers and radiators, original wiring, and stone or brick walls that need pointing. Some blocks also have empty neighbors. In 2017, planners found vacant and partly vacant properties clustered on the eastern half of Germantown Avenue, Chelten Avenue south of Germantown Avenue, and Chew Avenue near Chelten, and Wister alone has about 390 vacant lots in city records.

Many sellers here are long-time owners or their families. The same 2017 study said the Upper Northwest has a high share of long-term homeowners whose homes may come onto the market in large numbers. If that is your family's house, our guide to selling an inherited house in Philadelphia starts at the beginning.

Tired of being a Germantown landlord?

You can sell with the tenants still there, and you do not have to catch up on repairs first.

Tired landlord

Jerril, Germantown

Jerril was a tired landlord in Germantown. He tells his story in his own words in the video.

Running an old rental here is a lot of paperwork on top of the repairs. Renting takes a rental license, renewed every year at $69 per unit. Any building from before March 1978, and most Germantown houses are far older, must be certified lead-safe or lead-free before a lease is signed, and a lead-safe certificate must rest on an inspection no more than four years old. Each new tenant must get a Certificate of Rental Suitability from L&I, issued no more than 60 days before the tenancy starts.

If you are behind on any of it, we still buy. We buy rentals as-is, occupied or empty, and the offer accounts for the work. Our guide to selling a house with tenants walks through your options, including keeping it.

Is my Germantown house in a historic district?

It might be, especially near Market Square, Awbury or Wayne Junction. The Germantown Urban Village historic district, adopted February 9, 2024, covers buildings on Germantown Avenue around Market Square, Church Lane, Lena Street, and East and West School House Lane. The Awbury district (2010) takes in Awbury Arboretum and the Cope family houses in East Germantown. Manheim Square (2021) is five houses on Manheim Street built from 1834 to 1843. The Wayne Junction district (2018) sits partly in Germantown and partly in Nicetown.

Inside a district, work that needs a building permit or changes the outside needs Historical Commission approval first, and the city says sellers should tell buyers. To check an address, call the Commission at (215) 686-7660 or email [email protected].

How does a sale work with us in Germantown?

Straight talk on price: our cash offer for an as-is house will usually be below what it could sell for after a full renovation. That gap pays for the repairs, the months we carry the house, our risk and our resale costs. What you get is no repair bills, no showings, no commissions and a closing date you control. We pay all the closing costs, and your written offer shows exactly what you walk away with before you sign.

1. Tell us about the house. Call, text or use the form. A real local person answers.
2. We walk through it as-is, tenants and all. No cleaning, no fixing.
3. You get a written offer, usually within 24 hours. See how we calculate it.
4. You pick the closing day. No pressure, and if listing would net you more, we will tell you.

Probate, sheriff sales, transfer tax and L&I work the same here as anywhere in the city. Our Philadelphia page explains them, and our as-is guide covers selling without repairs.

Get my cash offer Text or call (267) 551-5554

Where else nearby do you buy?

We also buy just past the city line in Montgomery County, PA, across town in Mayfair and Northeast Philly and West Philadelphia (19104), and near our home base in Kensington, Fishtown and Port Richmond.

Germantown seller questions

This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. For your situation, talk to a Pennsylvania attorney or tax professional.