How We Buy Houses In Philadelphia

Anyone can promise “three easy steps.” What actually matters is what happens inside them — especially between a signed agreement and your check, which is where Philadelphia sales genuinely differ from the suburbs. Here’s our whole process, including the parts most buyers gloss over.

Step 1: Tell us about the house

Call or text (215) 515-7799 or use the form. We’ll ask about the property’s condition, what’s owed on it, and your timeline — ten minutes, no cost, and your information stays with us. If the situation involves an estate, tenants, or title questions, say so early: none of those are problems, but knowing changes how we structure the offer.

Step 2: Get a real number, with the math showing

Within 24 hours we present a cash offer built from your specific block — what the house would sell for fully renovated there, minus the actual cost of the work and our costs to carry and resell it. Philadelphia prices swing hard street to street, so we don’t price from ZIP-code averages, and we’ll walk you through every line rather than hand you a number in a black box. The full math is public, here. The offer is free information with no obligation — put it next to the listing route and decide with both columns filled in.

Step 3: The part nobody explains — from “yes” to your check

When you accept, the work moves to a Pennsylvania title company (no attorney is required to close here, though you’re always welcome to bring one). Here’s what they’re actually doing while you pack:

• Title search, immediately. The title company searches the deed chain, mortgages, judgments, and municipal claims. In Philadelphia this matters more than most places: under Pennsylvania’s Municipal Claims law, unpaid real estate taxes, water bills, and city charges are automatic liens on the property — they get certified and paid out of the sale proceeds at closing, not left floating.
• City certifications, ordered day one. Water payoff figures come from the Water Revenue Bureau, which asks for requests up to 30 days before settlement — one reason we start certifications the day the agreement is signed instead of the week before closing.
• Your mortgage payoff. Your servicer must produce a written payoff statement within seven business days of the request under federal rules. The loan is paid at closing, and Pennsylvania’s Mortgage Satisfaction Act then gives the lender 60 days to record the satisfaction.
• Disclosure, done right. Pennsylvania’s Seller Disclosure Law applies to most residential sales — paying cash doesn’t erase it, and a buyer who tells you otherwise is a red flag. We handle the form with you; estate and certain other transfers are exempt by statute, and we’ll tell you which applies.
• Signing, wherever you are. Closings happen at the title company, by mobile notary, or — since Pennsylvania authorized remote online notarization — without you setting foot in the state. Out-of-state sellers close with us routinely.
• Recording and taxes. The deed records with the Department of Records (City Hall Room 111; the current deed recording fee is $278.75), and Philadelphia’s realty transfer tax — 4.578% of the price in total — is paid at recording. The city itself says the buyer/seller split is customary, not legally required, so who pays what is spelled out plainly in our agreement. We typically cover the standard seller-side closing costs specified in our agreement.

There’s no lender financing contingency in any of this — no appraisal ordered by a bank, no underwriter discovering a problem in week five — which makes closing far more dependable than a financed sale. And if the search turns up a surprise, like a deed still in a late relative’s name, we don’t walk — resolving that is normal work for us.

What we buy, and where

Single-family homes, rowhomes, twins, and small multi-unit properties — in any condition, occupied or vacant, estate or rental — across every Philadelphia neighborhood plus Delaware, Montgomery, and Bucks Counties. If you’re unsure yours fits, ask; the answer is usually yes.

This page is general information about how a Philadelphia cash sale works — not legal or tax advice. Your agreement and your title company govern your specific closing.

Want to see the process from the inside? Start with your free cash offer, or call or text (215) 515-7799 — we’ll map your specific timeline on the first call.

Frequently asked questions