We Buy Houses in Mayfair and Northeast Philly

Do you buy houses in Mayfair and the rest of Northeast Philly?

Yes. We buy rowhomes, twins, singles and 2 to 4 unit buildings across Northeast Philadelphia: the house you raised your kids in, the duplex with a tenant who stopped paying, the place your parents left you.

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 and we do not list houses. You get a fair written offer, usually within 24 hours, and you pick the closing day.

Which Northeast neighborhoods do you buy in?

All of them, from the El to the county line.

What are Mayfair and Northeast houses like?

Mostly brick rowhomes built for the car. City planners describe the river side of the Northeast as almost fully built out by the 1950s, with most rows going up from the 1920s to the 1940s. The rows that dominate Mayfair and Wissinoming were designed with back driveways leading to garages, plus wide streets for parking. South of Cottman Avenue the blocks are dense rows; north of it the mix opens up.

Some of it is much older. Holmesburg has 18th-century roots. In 1872 Henry Disston moved his saw works from Kensington to Tacony and built a village for his workers there, and the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge connected Tacony to New Jersey in 1929.

Farther west and north, city records show twins and ranch twins leading in Fox Chase and Rhawnhurst, post-war rows filling Parkwood and Morrell Park, and a mix of twins, split-levels and duplexes in Bustleton and Somerton.

What usually needs work: water coming in through the basement garage or pooling on the back driveway, worn garage doors, flat roofs, cracked front steps and walls, original windows, and heaters and electrical panels from decades ago.

Tired of being a landlord in the Northeast?

You can sell with tenants in place, and duplexes are a big part of what we buy here.

Tired landlord

Greg, Mayfair

Greg was a tired landlord in Mayfair. He tells his story in his own words in the video.

In Mayfair, Tacony, Holmesburg and the nearby river-side neighborhoods, city planners found much of the multifamily housing is stacked flats built on a twin or rowhome footprint, and the vast majority appears to date from after 1950. City records count about 850 buildings with 2 to 4 units in Mayfair, 1,070 in Oxford Circle, 740 in Fox Chase and 1,240 in Rhawnhurst.

The city's rules apply to every one: a Commercial Activity License if you do not live there, a rental license renewed each year, lead-safe or lead-free certification before a lease is signed in buildings from before March 1978, and a Certificate of Rental Suitability for each new tenant. Before taking any step toward eviction, a landlord must send the tenant a Notice of Rights at least 30 days ahead. If that list sounds like a second job, our guide to selling a house with tenants lays out your choices.

Been in the house forty years?

Then take your time. You pick the closing day, so you can line up your next place first, and you can take what you want and leave the rest. If you would rather stay, look at the city's LOOP program, which lowers the tax for owners of 10 years or more whose assessment jumped and who meet the income limits. If the house came to you from a parent, start with our inherited house guide.

How does selling work with us in the Northeast?

Plainly: our cash offer for an as-is house is usually less than it might bring after a full rehab and a listing. The difference pays for the repairs, the months we hold the house, our risk and our costs to sell it again. You save the repair money, the showings, the commissions and the worry about a buyer's loan. We pay all the closing costs, and your written offer shows exactly what you walk away with before you sign.

1. Reach us your way. Call, text or use the form. A real local person answers.
2. We see the house as-is, tenants, furniture and all.
3. You get a written cash offer, usually within 24 hours, with no fees from us. Here is how we calculate it.
4. You choose the closing day. No pressure. If listing would net you more, we will tell you.

Probate, sheriff sales, transfer tax and L&I rules are the same across the city; our Philadelphia page explains them. Not sure about repairs? Read our guide to selling as-is.

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

Where else nearby do you buy?

We also buy in Bucks County, PA just past the city line, in Burlington County, NJ over the Tacony-Palmyra Bridge, next door in Bridesburg, Port Richmond and Kensington, and in Germantown and the Northwest.

Northeast Philly seller questions

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