We Buy Houses in Port Richmond

Do you buy houses in Port Richmond?

Yes, all over Port Richmond and in any condition: the porch-front your grandparents bought, the row with a tenant upstairs, the house that's sat empty since Mom moved in with you. We're a local, family-owned company. We buy houses ourselves, for cash. We're not agents, and we don't list houses.

Call or text (267) 551-5554 and a real local person answers, maybe Michael Neavson or Jen Gorsen. Sellers give us 4.6 stars on Google and 5.0 on Facebook.

Which parts of Port Richmond do you buy in?

All of it, and nearly every house here is ZIP 19134.

What are Port Richmond houses like?

Brick rowhomes, block after block. In City records, 95% of Port Richmond's single-family homes are rows, and nearly 9 in 10 were built before 1940. Many build years are City estimates. Only 368 houses here are listed as built in 2010 or later.

What sets Port Richmond apart is the porch-front. The City lists 2,207 porch-front rows here, about 1 in 5 single-family homes. In Fishtown, next door, it's 106. The Census Bureau's 2020 to 2024 survey backs up the age: in Port Richmond's three core census tracts, 67% of homes were built in 1939 or earlier, against 40% citywide, and fewer than 2% in 2010 or later.

In houses this age, the money usually goes to porch roofs and columns, flat roofs and the flashing where yours meets the neighbor's, rear walls, basements that take water, and old wiring and plumbing. And in Philly, the water and sewer lines out to the street are yours to fix, not the City's. If they fail, the Water Department sends a notice of defect with a deadline.

You don't have to fix any of it to sell to us. We buy as-is, open L&I violations included. Our guides to selling a house with knob-and-tube wiring and selling with code violations explain how each one affects a sale.

Who owns Port Richmond's houses?

Mostly the people who live in them, and many have been there a long time. In the Census Bureau's survey, 73% of occupied homes in Port Richmond's core tracts are owner-occupied, compared with 52% citywide. About 27% of households there moved in before 2000, against 21% across the city.

City records show the same thing. For 1,747 Port Richmond single-family homes, the last recorded sale was before 2000, and about 6 in 10 of those still have the Homestead Exemption, which only goes to an owner who lives there. For homes last sold before 1990, the typical recorded price was $19,400. The City values that group of houses at about $192,800 for 2027.

The Polish roots are real, too. St. Adalbert Polish Roman Catholic Church on Allegheny Avenue is a 1909 church building, and the City's 2015 planning study lists it among the buildings worth considering for the City's historic register. In the Census Bureau's survey, about 17% of people in the core tracts reported Polish ancestry, almost six times the citywide share of 3%. More reported Irish roots (about 30%), so it's a mix, like most of Philly.

Ready for something smaller, or settling a parent's estate? Our guide to selling a parent's house covers the hard conversations and the paperwork.

How much is my Port Richmond house worth?

For the City's tax purposes, roughly twice what it was in 2015. These are the City's own assessments for the same houses, 2015 against 2027.

Saw that 19134 had the biggest 2027 increase in the city? That's the whole ZIP, and about half of its single-family homes are outside Port Richmond. Inside Port Richmond, the typical rise was much smaller:

The assessment isn't a sale price or our offer. It's what your tax bill is figured from: at the City's 1.3998% rate, every $100,000 of taxable value costs about $1,400 a year. For actual sales, the City's property records put the typical recorded price of a Port Richmond single-family home sold in 2025 at $186,500 (414 sales), and $210,000 for 2026 sales recorded through mid-September, fixed-up and as-is houses mixed together.

Want to stay? If you live in the house and don't have the Homestead Exemption, apply by December 1. It takes $100,000 off your taxable value, and the City says most owners save up to $1,399 a year. If you've lived there at least 10 years and your assessment rose at least 50% in a year or 75% over five, look at LOOP, which also has an income limit (2027 applications are due September 30, 2027). Seniors 65 and older with income of $33,500 or less (single) or $41,500 or less (married) can freeze their bill.

Think the City got your value wrong? For 2027, the window has closed: First Level Review forms were due October 5, 2026, and Board of Revision of Taxes appeals are due by the first Monday in October each year. A big jump alone isn't grounds for a review.

What about the houses on Richmond Street and Aramingo Avenue?

We buy those too, as-is. City planners counted about 1.6 million square feet of shopping along Aramingo Avenue in a 2015 study, the biggest cluster of stores in this part of the city. Richmond Street, which runs along the river, carries a lot of trucks, and the same planners said that brings congestion, noise and diesel fumes to Port Richmond. Richmond Street and Allegheny Avenue are the neighborhood's walking shopping streets.

House on the truck route, by I-95 or backing up to a shopping center lot? That's fine with us. We'll buy it as it is and show you how the location figured into our number.

Tired of being a Port Richmond landlord?

At Vivid Properties, we buy rentals with the tenants in place, including Section 8 tenants and tenants who are behind on rent. We take over the leases, and you don't have to catch up on repairs first. City records list 323 multi-family buildings in Port Richmond, most of them rowhomes split into apartments, plus 49 apartment buildings with 5 or more units. We buy both, one at a time or all together.

Running an old rental here comes with City paperwork:

• A rental license, $69 per unit, renewed every year. To get or renew it, you need no outstanding L&I violations and you have to be current on City taxes. If you live outside the city, you also have to name a managing agent with a Philadelphia mailing address.
• A lead-safe or lead-free certificate for any building from before March 1978, before you sign a new lease or renew one. In City records, more than 9 in 10 Port Richmond homes are that old.
• The legal unit count. Every Philadelphia sale needs a Property Sales Certification ($139, five business days), and it shows the last established use in the zoning record. So if your row is set up as two apartments but the City has it down as one family, it'll show.

Behind on any of it? We still buy. You can sell your rental properties to us in one deal, and our guide to selling a house with tenants explains your choices, including keeping them.

Inherited a house in Port Richmond?

We buy inherited houses as-is, even when the deed is still in a late parent's or grandparent's name. The first question is who has the legal right to sign. The Register of Wills in City Hall, Room 180, probates the will, or issues letters of administration if there wasn't one.

A few clocks start once you inherit. Pennsylvania inheritance tax is 4.5% on what passes to children and grandchildren, and it's late nine months after the death (pay within three months and you get 5% off). An empty house needs a $202 Vacant Residential Property License, renewed every year, unless it's being renovated. And the Homestead Exemption stops helping once no owner lives there. Our guides to tangled titles in Philadelphia and selling an inherited house in Philadelphia walk through each step.

How does selling to us work in Port Richmond?

1. Call, text or fill out the form. A real local person answers.
2. We see the house as it is. No cleaning out, no fixing first, and we set the visit up around your tenants.
3. You get our offer in writing, usually within 24 hours, with no fees from us. It shows what you walk away with after any mortgage, liens or back taxes are paid off from the sale.
4. You pick the closing day. The title company handles the closing, and we pay all the closing costs, the 4.578% transfer tax included.

Our price will be less than your house could list for after a full fix-up, because we pay for the repairs, carry the house while the work gets done, and pay to sell it again. If an agent could get you more, we'll tell you straight. See how we calculate our offer, how a cash sale compares with listing, what it costs to sell a house in Philadelphia, and our full guide to selling a house in Philadelphia.

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

Where else nearby do you buy?

Next door, see our Fishtown page. We also buy in South Philadelphia, Germantown and West Philadelphia, and over the Betsy Ross Bridge in Camden County, NJ. Our Philadelphia page covers the rest of the city, plus probate, sheriff sales and L&I.

Port Richmond seller questions

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