We buy houses in Kensington
Kensington is the part of Philadelphia where the difference between two streets can be the difference between two prices. We buy on both of them.
- A written cash offer, usually within one business day
- No commission and no repairs — we buy it as it stands
- Liens, back taxes, tenants and probate are all workable
- You pick the settlement date
Get your Kensington cash offer
Two minutes. No fee, no obligation.
What the housing stock is
Mostly two-story brick rowhomes built before the First World War, on narrow lots, with shared party walls and flat roofs. Original systems in a lot of them: knob-and-tube somewhere in the wall, cast iron waste lines, plaster over lath, and a roof that has been patched more times than it has been replaced.
That stock is why financing falls apart here. An appraiser walks a house with an active leak, no working heat, or a stripped copper line and the mortgage does not fund — which removes most of the buyer pool before your house is ever listed.
Why a listing is hard here specifically
Kensington values move block by block rather than by neighborhood. Two houses four streets apart can be worth very different numbers, and an agent pricing off a neighborhood average will either scare buyers off or leave money on the table. Add vacancy on some blocks, and a retail buyer who wants a mortgage and a clean inspection is a hard buyer to find.
What we see most often in Kensington
- Long-vacant properties, sometimes stripped, sometimes occupied by people with no right to be there
- Houses inherited from a parent or grandparent who bought decades ago
- Delinquent real estate taxes and unpaid water and sewer stacked on the same parcel
- Open L&I violations on a building the owner cannot get into
- Small landlords finished with a tenant who stopped paying
The honest version
If your Kensington house is renovated, occupied and clean, list it — you will net more even after commission, and we will tell you so on the phone. Where we are the better answer is the house that has been sitting, the one with a lien file attached to it, or the one you inherited and have not been inside in three years.
How selling to us works
Tell us about the house
Two minutes on the form or one phone call. Address, rough condition, and what is going on. You do not need to have anything cleaned up or figured out first.
We check the numbers
We pull the comparable sales, the tax and lien position, and whatever else is on record for the property. Usually same day, always within one business day.
You get a real cash offer
A written, no-obligation number with the math behind it, so you can see how we got there. No fee to hear it and no pressure to take it.
You pick the closing date
Two weeks, two months, or after the holidays. We settle at a title company, you get certified funds, and you leave whatever you do not want behind.
Situations we handle in Kensington
None of these are unusual to us. Most of the houses we buy come with at least one.
Facing foreclosure
Stop the clock. We can close before the sheriff sale date and settle what you owe.
See how this works →Inherited a property
A house you did not ask for, in a city you may not live in. We handle it end to end.
See how this works →Administering an estate
Executor duties, probate, and a house to deal with while you are still grieving.
See how this works →Liens, judgments & title problems
Tax liens, water bills, old mortgages, clouded title. We own a title company.
See how this works →House needs work
Roof, water damage, full gut, hoarder cleanout. We buy it exactly as it stands.
See how this works →Problem tenants
Not paying, will not leave, trashing the place. Sell it with them still in it.
See how this works →Squatters
Someone is living in your property who has no right to be. We deal with it.
See how this works →Moving to senior care
Free up the equity to pay for care, on a timeline that fits the move-in date.
See how this works →Out-of-state owner
You do not have to fly in. Everything can be handled remotely and notarized where you are.
See how this works →Relocating for work
A start date in another state and a house that has not sold yet.
See how this works →Kensington questions
How fast can you close on a house in Kensington?
Usually the offer comes back the same day or the next business day, and most purchases settle in under 30 days. It can be as quick as about a week. It runs longer when there is something to untangle first — an estate that has not been opened, a large payoff, or a title defect. We tell you which one you are in before you commit to anything.
What gets paid off at settlement on a Kensington property?
In Kensington the usual ones are delinquent City of Philadelphia real estate tax, unpaid water and sewer, and open Licenses & Inspections violations. Judgments and old unreleased mortgages turn up regularly too. All of them are recorded against the parcel and all of them are paid or resolved at settlement out of the sale proceeds — you do not normally bring money to the table. Our own title company, Prosperity Abstract, does that work rather than sending it out.
Do I need an inspection or repairs to sell in Kensington?
No. The City of Philadelphia does not require a municipal resale inspection to transfer a property, and we do not ask for a buyer's inspection contingency in Kensington or anywhere else. We buy the house in the condition it is in.
Nearby
We buy across the city and the surrounding counties. These are the closest markets to Kensington.
Port Richmond
Tidy, tightly held rowhomes, long-tenured owners, and a lot of houses moving between generations.
See how we buy in Port Richmond →Frankford
Older rows and twins, a high share of rentals, and title histories that take real work to untangle.
See how we buy in Frankford →North Philadelphia
Rowhomes with real vacancy, deep tax delinquency, and heir property on a lot of blocks.
See how we buy in North Philadelphia →Find out what your Kensington house is worth in cash
It takes about two minutes to ask and there is no fee for the answer. If a cash sale is not your best move, we will say so.