How to Sell a House in Philadelphia and the PA Suburbs

Maybe it's the house you raised your kids in, or your mom's, or a rental you're done with. The steps are the same either way, and they're a lot less scary once you see them in order.

How do you sell a house in Philadelphia, step by step?

You decide how to sell, get your papers and numbers together, order the City's Property Sales Certification (or your town's U&O in the suburbs), fill out Pennsylvania's disclosure form, sign an agreement of sale, and close at a title company, which pays off your mortgage and records the deed. Here are the ten steps in order.

1. Decide how you'll sell. List it, sell it yourself, sell it to us as-is, or keep it and rent it out.
2. Make sure you can sign. Everyone on the deed signs. If the owner died, someone needs letters from the Register of Wills first. Signing for a parent takes a power of attorney or a guardian.
3. Pull up the records. In Philadelphia, Atlas (atlas.phila.gov) shows your deed and mortgage history, and the City's lookup shows permits, violations and zoning, free. In the suburbs, the county Recorder of Deeds has your deed.
4. Get your numbers. Know your mortgage balance and any back taxes, water bills or liens. Ask an agent what the house would list for, and get our written offer so you can compare the two.
5. Order the local paperwork. In Philadelphia, apply for the Property Sales Certification through eCLIPSE, the City's online permit system. In the suburbs, ask the township or borough on your tax bill what a resale needs.
6. Fill out the disclosures. The state's seller disclosure statement, plus the lead paint disclosure for a house built before 1978. In a condo or HOA, ask the association for its resale certificate.
7. Sign the agreement of sale. It sets the price, the closing date, what stays with the house and what the sale depends on, like a mortgage or an inspection. Have a Pennsylvania real estate attorney read it first.
8. Get through your buyer's checks. A listed house usually faces an inspection, an appraisal and a mortgage approval, and any of them can reopen the price. When you sell to us, there's no loan or appraisal.
9. Line up the payoffs. The title company searches the records and orders your mortgage payoff and any lien, tax or water amounts, so each is paid off from the sale.
10. Close. You sign the deed in front of a notary, the transfer tax is paid when the deed is recorded, your debts on the house are paid off, and you get the rest.

What are your options for selling a house in Pennsylvania?

You have four real choices: list it with an agent, sell it yourself, sell it to us as-is for cash, or keep it and rent it out. Listing usually brings the highest price for a house in good shape. Selling to us skips the repairs, the showings and the commission.

Our price will be less than a fixed-up house would list for, because we pay for the repairs, carry the house while we work and pay to sell it again. If listing would put more money in your pocket, we'll tell you. No pressure either way. See how we calculate our offer, and put the paths side by side on our cash sale vs. listing comparison.

Do you need a real estate agent to sell a house in Pennsylvania?

No. You can sell it yourself, or sell it to us with no agent at all. If you do hire one, the commission is whatever the two of you agree to, and Pennsylvania's rules make the listing agreement say it was negotiated. A listing also can't run longer than a year or renew itself.

• It ends on its end date. The agreement can't make you send a cancellation notice when the listing period is over.
• Watch the bold print. An exclusive right-to-sell agreement has to say, in bold, that the broker earns a commission on a sale during the listing period no matter who makes it, you included. Sell to us while that listing is active and you may still owe it.

What paperwork do you need to sell a house in PA?

Your photo ID and deed, your mortgage details, Pennsylvania's seller disclosure statement, the lead paint disclosure for a house built before 1978, and whatever your city or town wants before settlement: a Property Sales Certification in Philadelphia, or a resale U&O in many suburbs. Sell to us, and we'll help you gather it.

Signing for an estate or someone else? Bring those papers too, and the leases if it's rented. Our guide to what it costs to sell a house in Philadelphia has a longer checklist, a sample net sheet and worked transfer tax examples.

Do you have to fill out a seller's disclosure in Pennsylvania?

Usually, yes. Pennsylvania's Real Estate Seller Disclosure Law covers homes with 1 to 4 units. You list the material defects you know about on the state's form and give your buyer a signed, dated copy before the agreement of sale is signed. Selling as-is doesn't change that, and neither does selling to us.

A material defect is a problem that would hurt the value a lot, or that puts people on the property at real risk. An old roof or furnace isn't one just because it's near the end of its life. In plain words:

• Tell what you know. You don't have to hire inspectors to fill out the form. You just can't leave out a defect you know about or say something you know is false.
• Speak up if something changes before settlement.
• Some mistakes are forgiven. You're not liable for an error you didn't know about, or one based on a report from a home inspector, contractor or public agency.
• Hiding a defect isn't. A seller who willfully or negligently breaks the law can owe your buyer's actual damages, and your buyer has two years after settlement to sue.

The form covers the roof, basement, pests, structure, additions, water and sewer, plumbing, heating, electrical, drainage, hazardous substances, any HOA, title problems and storm water. Act 74 of 2026, signed October 22, 2026, will add flood questions: past flood damage, FEMA flood zones, required flood insurance, flood aid and flood claims.

Who skips the form? Executors, administrators, trustees and guardians selling for an estate, trust or guardianship; court-ordered and foreclosure sales, sheriff sales included; sales between co-owners, to a spouse, or to a child, grandchild or parent; transfers under a divorce decree; houses your buyer will tear down or stop using as a home; vacant land; and new construction that comes with a warranty of a year or more.

Built before 1978? Federal rules also say to share what you know about lead paint and any lead reports, give your buyer the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home, and put a lead warning in the contract. Buyers get 10 days to test unless they waive it. More in our guide to selling a house as-is.

What is a Property Sales Certification?

It's the City paperwork Pennsylvania law requires before you sell any property in Philadelphia. L&I issues it for $139, processing takes five business days, and it shows the property's zoning, its last established use in the zoning record, and any uncorrected housing, building, safety or fire violations.

Apply online through eCLIPSE or book an appointment at the City's Permit and License Center. Lots of sellers first hear of it from the title company, so order it early.

Open violations show up right on it, and that's fine with us. We buy with violations still open and handle them after closing. It also shows the use the City has on record, which matters for a duplex or a house split into apartments. Our guide to selling with L&I violations covers looking them up and answering a notice, and our Philadelphia page covers the City's other rules for sellers.

What does it cost to sell a house in Philadelphia?

If you list, the big costs are the agent's commission, your share of the 4.578% transfer tax, title and settlement charges, the $139 certification, any repairs or credits, and the months you carry the house. When you sell to us, we pay all the closing costs, and there's no commission.

Who pays the transfer tax? The sale agreement decides. State law makes buyer and seller both responsible for all of it, and the City says it can collect 100% from either one. It's usually split evenly, but that's not a legal requirement. On a $300,000 Philadelphia sale, the whole tax is $13,734, so half is $6,867.

In Philadelphia, most transfers between spouses, parents and children, grandparents and grandchildren, and brothers and sisters (half and adopted siblings included) are exempt, and so are their spouses, with paperwork. A house bought from an estate isn't.

How long does it take to sell a house in Philadelphia?

If you list, plan on a couple of months or more. Philadelphia listings spent a median of 62 days on the market in October 2026, by Realtor.com's count, and your buyer's mortgage adds steps of its own. When you sell to us, there's no loan to wait on. The paperwork sets the earliest date, and you pick the day.

The suburbs moved a little faster that month: 44 days in Delaware County, PA, and 40 in both Bucks County and Montgomery County, PA. Either way, these lead times decide how soon you can close:

Each month the house sits adds taxes, insurance, utilities and loan interest. Our comparison page has each county's days on market, and how we buy houses covers what can slow a closing.

How is selling in Delaware County, PA, Bucks County and Montgomery County, PA different?

The state steps are the same everywhere, but the local paperwork isn't. Philadelphia uses one City certificate. In the suburbs, the township or borough on your tax bill, not the town on your mail, decides whether you need a resale inspection, and transfer tax runs 2% in most towns instead of 4.578%.

Each county page lists every town and neighborhood we buy in, with the names locals use, the main ZIP codes, and how probate and tax sales work there. Selling across the river? See our guide to selling in South Jersey.

What if your house fails the town's inspection?

You can still sell. Under Act 133 of 2016, a Pennsylvania town that requires a U&O has to issue a temporary certificate when its inspection finds problems, instead of stopping the sale. Smaller problems get a temporary U&O, so the new owner can move in and fix them. A problem that makes the house unfit to live in gets a temporary access certificate: the new owner can get in to repair it, but nobody lives there until it's done. The town can't demand an escrow or a bond, and the new owner generally has 12 months to make the repairs. Sell to us, and that repair list is ours.

What do the towns we know well ask for?

Can you sell a house as-is in Pennsylvania?

Yes. You can sell any house as-is, and at Vivid Properties, that's how we buy every house. You'll still fill out the disclosure form (unless your sale is exempt), hand over the lead paint papers for an older house, and get your city or town certificate. Open violations and failed inspections don't have to stop the sale.

• Selling a house as-is: what as-is really means, what you still disclose in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and how repairs change your price.
• L&I code violations: looking up a violation, the appeal deadlines, unsafe or condemned houses, and selling with violations open.
• Knob-and-tube wiring and old-house problems: old wiring, pipes and sewer lines, matched to the disclosure form, Philadelphia's permits and the City's repair programs.
• Fire or water damage: what your insurance company has to do and how fast under Pennsylvania's rules, L&I's make-safe deadlines, and selling before the claim settles.
• A hoarder or cluttered house: the papers to find before anything's thrown out, Philadelphia's drop-off rules, and help for someone who hoards.

What if the owner died or the house is still in a late relative's name?

You can still sell, once someone has the legal right to sign. The executor named in the will, or an administrator if there's no will, gets that right from the county's Register of Wills. Estate sales skip Pennsylvania's disclosure form, but inheritance tax and the estate's bills still need handling. We can make an offer at any stage.

Pennsylvania inheritance tax is 0% to a surviving spouse (or to a parent from a child 21 or younger), 4.5% to children, grandchildren and other lineal heirs, 12% to brothers and sisters, and 15% to most others. It's late nine months after the death, and paying within three months takes 5% off. A house left in a will can be exempt from Philadelphia's transfer tax, but not always, and a sale from the estate is taxed like any other.

• Selling an inherited house: probate steps and fees at the Register of Wills, the inheritance tax calendar, and siblings who don't agree.
• A house still in a late relative's name: who inherits when there's no will, the City's free title help and the Tangled Title Fund.
• An elderly parent's house: who can sign, guardianship, Medicaid and the house, and programs that help a parent stay home.

What if you're behind on the mortgage, taxes or water bills?

You can still sell, and the sooner you start, the more choices you have. Your mortgage, back taxes and water liens are paid off from the sale at closing, and what's left is yours. In Philadelphia, call Save Your Home Philly at (215) 334-4663 first for free housing counseling and legal help.

The City's Real Estate Tax is due March 31, and starting April 1, charges of 1.5% a month are added until January 1.

• Behind on mortgage payments: what happens after each missed payment, Pennsylvania's Act 91 notice and HEMAP loan, and the free help to try first.
• Facing a sheriff sale: how sales get set and postponed, the court petition for more time, the suburban counties, and how selling first protects your equity.
• Back taxes, water bills or other liens: how tax, water, gas, L&I, court and IRS liens are found and paid off at closing, plus the City's payment plans.

What if the house is rented or sitting empty?

At Vivid Properties, we buy rentals with the tenants in place, including Section 8 tenants and tenants who are behind on rent, and we take over the leases. Empty houses are fine too. In Philadelphia, though, a house nobody lives in needs a $202 Vacant Residential Property License every year, unless it's being renovated.

A Philadelphia rental needs a license at $69 a unit, renewed every year, and a lead-safe or lead-free certificate if it was built before March 1978. After you sell to us, those are ours to handle.

• Selling your rental properties: one rental or a whole portfolio, up to apartment buildings with 5 or more units, with the tenants staying put.
• Selling a house with tenants: what happens to the lease and deposits, Section 8 contracts, and Philadelphia's lease rules for landlords who sell.
• Selling a vacant house: the vacant license, the City's doors-and-windows rule, squatters, and what an empty house costs each month.

What if you're divorcing, moving away, or the house just won't sell?

Each of those changes who signs or how you get to closing, not whether you can sell. In a divorce, everyone on the deed still signs. From another state, you may not need to come back at all. And if your listing expired, Pennsylvania listing agreements end on their end date, with no cancellation letter needed.

• Selling during a divorce: who signs, how Pennsylvania and New Jersey courts divide a house, the mortgage, and splitting the money at closing.
• Selling from out of state: mail-away closings, remote notaries, powers of attorney, the empty house and the taxes.
• House won't sell: why houses sit, your rights when a listing ends, and your next moves.

Getting letters and calls about your house?

Some may be ours, and you can text or call anytime to stop them. Before you sign with anyone, know that some companies sign a contract on your house and then sell that contract to someone else for a fee. Pennsylvania's Act 52 of 2024 lets you cancel that kind of contract until midnight of the 30th day after you sign, or until the house is transferred if that comes first, and you can't sign away that right. See why you're getting mail about your house to check out anyone who writes to you, us included.

Do you owe taxes when you sell a house in Pennsylvania?

Often not, on your main home. The IRS lets you exclude up to $250,000 of gain ($500,000 on a joint return with your spouse) if you owned and lived in the house for at least 2 of the last 5 years. Pennsylvania exempts the gain on a principal residence that passes its own 2-of-5-year test.

The settlement agent will ask for your Social Security number to report the sale to the IRS on Form 1099-S, though a main home selling for $250,000 or less ($500,000 if you're married) can skip that report if you sign a written certification. Rentals, inherited houses and sellers in another state play by different rules: see selling rental properties and selling from out of state, and talk to a tax professional.

Is there a page for your neighborhood or town?

Yes, for the places we buy most. Each covers the local rules, the kinds of houses there and the names locals use. We buy everywhere else in Philadelphia and the suburbs too, so if your town isn't here, start with its county page above.

How does selling to Vivid work?

Simply. Tell us about the house, we see it once, and you'll get our written offer, usually within 24 hours. We buy as-is, pay all the closing costs and charge no commission. The title company pays off anything you owe from the sale, and you pick the closing day.

At Vivid Properties, we're a local, family-owned real estate investment company, not agents. We buy rowhomes, twins, singles, 2 to 4 unit buildings and apartment buildings with 5 or more units across Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs, in any condition, and rental portfolios of any size, tenants and all. When you call or text, a real local person answers. See how we buy houses, step by step, or read our reviews and seller stories.

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Questions about selling a house in Philadelphia and PA

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