May 6, 2025 • 15 mins
Today I’m going to break down two critical topics every property owner needs to understand:
1. Northeast Philadelphia Rental Market Update
2. Proposed City Council Rental Bills You Shouldn’t Ignore.
Whether you’re actively renting in Philly or considering your next move, this episode gives you actionable insights on staying profitable and compliant.
Request a Free Rental Analysis or Management Advice – Sponsored by TrustArt Realty https://forms.gle/7ArCNbsJshirxd2m9
Resources Mentioned:
Bill #220044 – Application Fee Cap: https://phila.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7114076&GUID=E623128D-0E2A-4912-BF50-D09C6873D94A&Options=ID%7CText%7CAttachments%7COther%7C&Search=
Bill #220045 – Security Deposit Installments: https://phila.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7114077&GUID=A4CB128D-B5BD-4E3B-8790-681678B66919&Options=ID%7CText%7CAttachments%7COther%7C&Search=
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Yuriy (00:00):
We're here to share insights and experiences, not
legal or accounting advice.
Be sure to talk to yourattorney, accountant or
professional advisor beforemaking any decisions.
Everyone's situation isdifferent.
Get the help that is right foryou, and today we're looking at
Northeast feeling From the pricethat you would post online to
(00:20):
the price that you actually getwhat's happening at city hall.
Hi, welcome back to the phillylandlord guy, the podcast for
rental owners, investors andmanagers who care about doing
things right in philadelphia.
(00:41):
I'm your host, yuriSkripnichenko, the guy with his
impossible last name.
Just think of me as the Phillylandlord guy.
I am a licensed real estatebroker in the state of
Pennsylvania and certifiedproperty manager, and today I'm
bringing you two big topics thatmatter right now and very
important to know in the city ofPhiladelphia.
(01:04):
So today I'm flying solo, andthe way how we set up this
podcast or this show is thatonce a month we will have a
guest that we will discusstopics about Philadelphia, or
investing in Philadelphia, orleasing and anything that goes
into real estate in the city,and once a month it will be me
(01:27):
only, where I will break downneighborhood by neighborhood,
giving you market analysis orsome details, statistics on the
market, how long it takes tofind a tenant, what is the
median rent price, and so on.
Last episode we spoke aboutrental license and compliance
with rental license Basic butessential stuff.
Today we're diving intosomething a little more
(01:47):
political but just as importantNew bills from city council that
will change the way how we dobusiness in city of Philadelphia
, how we screen our applicationsand how we process security
deposit.
So stay tuned and let's go.
And today we will be talkingabout Northeast Philadelphia.
This is where I am from, thisis where I invest and this is my
(02:11):
background.
It's a big area of the city.
There are a lot of differentneighborhoods that compose the
Northeast Philadelphia and atleast six to seven different zip
codes, and they all aredifferent.
So today I will give you anoverview of the area in general
and, moving forward we will go.
In the future episodes we willgo zip code by zip code or area
(02:33):
by area.
Then I will break down newproposals from city council that
could change the way how we dobusiness in the city of
Philadelphia, how we collectapplication fees and security
deposits.
I'm not here to get political.
I just want to share theprocess, the proposals that city
(02:53):
council has and what they workon and what they're trying to
pass in the city, which is superimportant for us to know as
landlords.
So let's start with somethingevery landlord cares about
market conditions, and todaywe're looking at Northeast
Philly.
So this is a section of citythat is often overlooked by
(03:13):
investors and landlords becausethey focus on more trendier
parts like Fishtown or maybeSouth Philly.
But if you're thinking longterm, northeast has a lot going
for it.
You've got neighborhoods likeMayfair, tacony, baselton,
foxchase, parkwood and other.
(03:35):
There is a good mix of singlefamily homes, duplexes,
triplexes and small apartmentbuildings and small apartment
buildings.
Tenants here are typicallyworking families, often
long-term renters.
The vibe is stable,community-oriented, people take
(03:56):
pride in their blocks and keepthem clean.
So of course it goes again asmost of the city, block by block
, neighborhood to neighborhood,and all of these neighborhoods
that I named and there are moreof them they may be different
and they are different.
They have different vibe, theylook differently, they were
built in different time, so allof that you need to take into
consideration.
But the area in general is agreat area to invest if you get
(04:22):
a decent deal that makes sense.
Right now we're seeing solidrent performance, a typical
house we're just talking aboutaverage here, right or median.
So for the whole area it's notone bedroom is 19111, 19115, 116
(04:46):
, 135, 136, 49, and 54.
So this data is compiled in thereport on local MLS and if
you're looking at the report forMarch, we're looking at March
because we're recording this inthe beginning of April, so the
data that we have available isfor the last month and the
(05:07):
median listed price through allof those areas was $1,800.
The median rented price so theprice that actually the lease
was signed for was $1,600, whichtells us that rents drop in a
little bit from the price thatyou post online to the price
(05:30):
that you actually get andaverage days on the market is 49
.
So what that means?
That means that from the timewhen you post your property on
the market to the time when youactually have a tenant and you
have signed lease, it takes onaverage 49 days, which is much
(05:52):
bigger number that we've beenseeing previous years.
But it's going on everywhere inthe city, not just in this part
, and Northeast was historicallyperforming better than other
parts of the city and we willsee it in different episodes
when we will be talking aboutother parts.
What kind of numbers we see inthe reports right now.
(06:15):
One other big theme that I'mnoticing is that tenants are
getting more selective, and it'snot just about the price.
Of course, price it's one ofthe biggest factors when it goes
to rent, but it's also aboutthe condition Tenants looking
for properties that are clean,freshly painted, with decent
(06:36):
kitchens and bathrooms, not fromthe 70s or 60s, but something
that recently was updated.
Plus, they're looking forappliances, so washers and
dryers make a big difference.
So if you're looking to investin Northeast Philadelphia or buy
a property, prices are stillsomewhat reasonable compared to
other parts of Philadelphia, butthey are creeping up and
(06:58):
catching up.
But there is still room forvalue at place, especially if
you're willing to manage themproperly and it's not just a
quick flip for a quick buck.
So northeast Philly, it's astable area that is for stable,
long-term investing,neighborhood deep dive coming.
(07:18):
In the future episodes I willbe breaking down each
neighborhood one by one, talkingabout the different trends,
rent comps, market analysis,blocks to avoid, if any, and
what kind of tenant base you canexpect in this area.
So if Northeast Philly is onyour radar, stay tuned, it will
(07:40):
be coming up.
Now I want to say thank you toour sponsor, trust Art Realty
property management inPhiladelphia.
So, for all of our listeners,trust Art Realty is offering
free rental analysis or freemanagement advice.
If you would like to scheduleyour consultation, email us at
trustour3lt atphililandlordguycom, or just
(08:04):
look for a link in the shownotes.
That will take you to a formthat you can fill out and
somebody will get in touch withyou and you can talk property
management.
Now let's talk about what'shappening at City Hall.
So we have two new bills thatwere recently introduced that
affect how we manage our rentals, and I want to be clear I'm not
(08:26):
coming at this from a politicalangle.
I'm coming at it as a landlord,property manager and someone
who is dealing with this stuffevery day.
So one of the bills is tryingto cap application fees.
So all of us, when you havetenants applying, we collect
application fee, and I've seenit anywhere between $40 to $120
(08:51):
and maybe even more.
So this bill would cap how muchyou can charge for an
application fee, and they'retrying to cap it at $20.
The goal is to prevent tenantsfrom being taken advantage of by
landlords who keep collectingapplication fees and don't
really do anything with that,but in reality I don't think
(09:15):
there are too many of thelandlords who do that just to
collect the application fees.
That's not what we do.
We're here to actually findtenants and place them in our
properties and the fee coversbackground checks, checks,
credit pools, admin fees, andit's not an extra income, not at
least for us.
So capping at that amount, it'sjust too low.
(09:40):
It's not even enough to pullbackground credit on the tenant
and that means that us as thelandlords, we will have to put
money out of pocket for everysingle application that we
receive to screen it, which isabsolutely not fair.
If we're talking about fairnesshere and we're not supposed to
be subsidizing the tenants, Ithink if government is looking
(10:02):
to do that, they should beproviding the funds, not us.
And the second bill it's talkingabout security deposits and
that the landlords will have toprovide tenants with an option
to pay security deposit forequal installments, meaning,
let's say, your rent is $1,000 amonth, you sign a lease in
(10:26):
January, so you will have toprovide tenant with an
installment plan to pay yoursecurity deposit with four
installments of $250 per each.
So they will pay you $250 inJanuary, february, march and
April.
However, it doesn't tellanything about what's going to
happen if tenant moves in inJanuary, doesn't pay anything,
(10:46):
moves out February.
Property is destroyed.
You don't have a securitydeposit.
Nothing mentioned about that.
That's very concerning for usas landlords and what actually
might happen?
That either will increase therent, which they're not looking
to do the goal of both of thosebills is to provide more
(11:09):
affordable housing to people,but I think they do not realize
that by actually doing that theywill have less affordable
housing or all of you willdecide that your screening
criteria will need to go way uphigher to be able to deal with
the security deposit installmentplans.
(11:30):
So yesterday, which was April7th, city council had a public
hearing that I went to and Itestify in front of city council
.
I can tell you they aredefinitely not landlord-friendly
place.
They had a lot of differenttenant support organizations,
(11:51):
activists and differentnonprofits who were actually on
a panel to testify for both ofthese bills and, of course, all
of them supported.
And then there was a bunch ofdifferent landlords who didn't
really have much time to testify, but we still did and of course
, all of us gave them reasoningwhy they should not do it how
(12:13):
that will hurt us, how it willhurt tenants they should not do
it how that will hurt us, how itwill hurt tenants.
So it's very important if youare in the city of Philadelphia,
reach out to your city councilmember and tell them how those
two bills will affect you andthat it's not going to provide
any value to the tenants or toyou and that actually will hurt
(12:36):
everyone.
And for more information, youcan just look it up.
The bills are 220044 and 220045, so you can look them up online
and see what the language, whatis the exact language of those
bills?
(12:57):
To wrap up, northeast Philly issolid, steady market right now,
with a lot of upside forlandlords who are in it for the
long haul.
If you own there or thinking ofbuying, keep an eye for those
upcoming neighborhood pieces inthe future.
And when it comes to citycouncil new proposals, it's
(13:19):
important to stay informed.
These changes can impact on howwe run our businesses and they
do impact that.
So I will keep bringing youupdates as they move forward and
I will include them in thisneighborhood-specific episodes.
I will give you some updates oneverything that's happening.
(13:39):
If you have any questions, youcan just post them in the
comments section.
You can follow us on socialmedia at phililandlordguy.
You can email us at info atphililandlordguycom.
Please like it, share it,subscribe, and thanks for
listening.
I will catch you next time.
(14:00):
And just as an update, since Irecorded this episode that came
from city council, aftertestimony from both sides
tenants, advocates, renters andproperty owners like myself the
committee decided to hold thebills for further consideration
rather than moving them forwardfor a full vote, which is good
for us.
Just to recap, the proposedlegislation would cap rental
(14:23):
application fees at $20 andrequire landlords to accept
security deposits in fourmonthly payments instead of
upfront.
So the idea of this legislationis aimed at lowering the
barriers to affordable housing,but many landlords, including
myself, spoke out about theimpact this could have, how it
(14:45):
might lead to tighter screening,more financial risks or push
small landlords out of thebusiness.
So for now, the bills are onhold, but they are still very
much alive.
I'll keep you posted here onthe show as things develop.
We're here to share insights and experiences, not
legal or accounting advice.
Be sure to talk to yourattorney, accountant or
professional advisor beforemaking any decisions.
Everyone's situation isdifferent.
Get the help that is right foryou, and today we're looking at
Northeast feeling From the pricethat you would post online to
(00:20):
the price that you actually getwhat's happening at city hall.
Hi, welcome back to the phillylandlord guy, the podcast for
rental owners, investors andmanagers who care about doing
things right in philadelphia.
(00:41):
I'm your host, yuriSkripnichenko, the guy with his
impossible last name.
Just think of me as the Phillylandlord guy.
I am a licensed real estatebroker in the state of
Pennsylvania and certifiedproperty manager, and today I'm
bringing you two big topics thatmatter right now and very
important to know in the city ofPhiladelphia.
(01:04):
So today I'm flying solo, andthe way how we set up this
podcast or this show is thatonce a month we will have a
guest that we will discusstopics about Philadelphia, or
investing in Philadelphia, orleasing and anything that goes
into real estate in the city,and once a month it will be me
(01:27):
only, where I will break downneighborhood by neighborhood,
giving you market analysis orsome details, statistics on the
market, how long it takes tofind a tenant, what is the
median rent price, and so on.
Last episode we spoke aboutrental license and compliance
with rental license Basic butessential stuff.
Today we're diving intosomething a little more
(01:47):
political but just as importantNew bills from city council that
will change the way how we dobusiness in city of Philadelphia
, how we screen our applicationsand how we process security
deposit.
So stay tuned and let's go.
And today we will be talkingabout Northeast Philadelphia.
This is where I am from, thisis where I invest and this is my
(02:11):
background.
It's a big area of the city.
There are a lot of differentneighborhoods that compose the
Northeast Philadelphia and atleast six to seven different zip
codes, and they all aredifferent.
So today I will give you anoverview of the area in general
and, moving forward we will go.
In the future episodes we willgo zip code by zip code or area
(02:33):
by area.
Then I will break down newproposals from city council that
could change the way how we dobusiness in the city of
Philadelphia, how we collectapplication fees and security
deposits.
I'm not here to get political.
I just want to share theprocess, the proposals that city
(02:53):
council has and what they workon and what they're trying to
pass in the city, which is superimportant for us to know as
landlords.
So let's start with somethingevery landlord cares about
market conditions, and todaywe're looking at Northeast
Philly.
So this is a section of citythat is often overlooked by
(03:13):
investors and landlords becausethey focus on more trendier
parts like Fishtown or maybeSouth Philly.
But if you're thinking longterm, northeast has a lot going
for it.
You've got neighborhoods likeMayfair, tacony, baselton,
foxchase, parkwood and other.
(03:35):
There is a good mix of singlefamily homes, duplexes,
triplexes and small apartmentbuildings and small apartment
buildings.
Tenants here are typicallyworking families, often
long-term renters.
The vibe is stable,community-oriented, people take
(03:56):
pride in their blocks and keepthem clean.
So of course it goes again asmost of the city, block by block
, neighborhood to neighborhood,and all of these neighborhoods
that I named and there are moreof them they may be different
and they are different.
They have different vibe, theylook differently, they were
built in different time, so allof that you need to take into
consideration.
But the area in general is agreat area to invest if you get
(04:22):
a decent deal that makes sense.
Right now we're seeing solidrent performance, a typical
house we're just talking aboutaverage here, right or median.
So for the whole area it's notone bedroom is 19111, 19115, 116
(04:46):
, 135, 136, 49, and 54.
So this data is compiled in thereport on local MLS and if
you're looking at the report forMarch, we're looking at March
because we're recording this inthe beginning of April, so the
data that we have available isfor the last month and the
(05:07):
median listed price through allof those areas was $1,800.
The median rented price so theprice that actually the lease
was signed for was $1,600, whichtells us that rents drop in a
little bit from the price thatyou post online to the price
(05:30):
that you actually get andaverage days on the market is 49
.
So what that means?
That means that from the timewhen you post your property on
the market to the time when youactually have a tenant and you
have signed lease, it takes onaverage 49 days, which is much
(05:52):
bigger number that we've beenseeing previous years.
But it's going on everywhere inthe city, not just in this part
, and Northeast was historicallyperforming better than other
parts of the city and we willsee it in different episodes
when we will be talking aboutother parts.
What kind of numbers we see inthe reports right now.
(06:15):
One other big theme that I'mnoticing is that tenants are
getting more selective, and it'snot just about the price.
Of course, price it's one ofthe biggest factors when it goes
to rent, but it's also aboutthe condition Tenants looking
for properties that are clean,freshly painted, with decent
(06:36):
kitchens and bathrooms, not fromthe 70s or 60s, but something
that recently was updated.
Plus, they're looking forappliances, so washers and
dryers make a big difference.
So if you're looking to investin Northeast Philadelphia or buy
a property, prices are stillsomewhat reasonable compared to
other parts of Philadelphia, butthey are creeping up and
(06:58):
catching up.
But there is still room forvalue at place, especially if
you're willing to manage themproperly and it's not just a
quick flip for a quick buck.
So northeast Philly, it's astable area that is for stable,
long-term investing,neighborhood deep dive coming.
(07:18):
In the future episodes I willbe breaking down each
neighborhood one by one, talkingabout the different trends,
rent comps, market analysis,blocks to avoid, if any, and
what kind of tenant base you canexpect in this area.
So if Northeast Philly is onyour radar, stay tuned, it will
(07:40):
be coming up.
Now I want to say thank you toour sponsor, trust Art Realty
property management inPhiladelphia.
So, for all of our listeners,trust Art Realty is offering
free rental analysis or freemanagement advice.
If you would like to scheduleyour consultation, email us at
trustour3lt atphililandlordguycom, or just
(08:04):
look for a link in the shownotes.
That will take you to a formthat you can fill out and
somebody will get in touch withyou and you can talk property
management.
Now let's talk about what'shappening at City Hall.
So we have two new bills thatwere recently introduced that
affect how we manage our rentals, and I want to be clear I'm not
(08:26):
coming at this from a politicalangle.
I'm coming at it as a landlord,property manager and someone
who is dealing with this stuffevery day.
So one of the bills is tryingto cap application fees.
So all of us, when you havetenants applying, we collect
application fee, and I've seenit anywhere between $40 to $120
(08:51):
and maybe even more.
So this bill would cap how muchyou can charge for an
application fee, and they'retrying to cap it at $20.
The goal is to prevent tenantsfrom being taken advantage of by
landlords who keep collectingapplication fees and don't
really do anything with that,but in reality I don't think
(09:15):
there are too many of thelandlords who do that just to
collect the application fees.
That's not what we do.
We're here to actually findtenants and place them in our
properties and the fee coversbackground checks, checks,
credit pools, admin fees, andit's not an extra income, not at
least for us.
So capping at that amount, it'sjust too low.
(09:40):
It's not even enough to pullbackground credit on the tenant
and that means that us as thelandlords, we will have to put
money out of pocket for everysingle application that we
receive to screen it, which isabsolutely not fair.
If we're talking about fairnesshere and we're not supposed to
be subsidizing the tenants, Ithink if government is looking
(10:02):
to do that, they should beproviding the funds, not us.
And the second bill it's talkingabout security deposits and
that the landlords will have toprovide tenants with an option
to pay security deposit forequal installments, meaning,
let's say, your rent is $1,000 amonth, you sign a lease in
(10:26):
January, so you will have toprovide tenant with an
installment plan to pay yoursecurity deposit with four
installments of $250 per each.
So they will pay you $250 inJanuary, february, march and
April.
However, it doesn't tellanything about what's going to
happen if tenant moves in inJanuary, doesn't pay anything,
(10:46):
moves out February.
Property is destroyed.
You don't have a securitydeposit.
Nothing mentioned about that.
That's very concerning for usas landlords and what actually
might happen?
That either will increase therent, which they're not looking
to do the goal of both of thosebills is to provide more
(11:09):
affordable housing to people,but I think they do not realize
that by actually doing that theywill have less affordable
housing or all of you willdecide that your screening
criteria will need to go way uphigher to be able to deal with
the security deposit installmentplans.
(11:30):
So yesterday, which was April7th, city council had a public
hearing that I went to and Itestify in front of city council
.
I can tell you they aredefinitely not landlord-friendly
place.
They had a lot of differenttenant support organizations,
(11:51):
activists and differentnonprofits who were actually on
a panel to testify for both ofthese bills and, of course, all
of them supported.
And then there was a bunch ofdifferent landlords who didn't
really have much time to testify, but we still did and of course
, all of us gave them reasoningwhy they should not do it how
(12:13):
that will hurt us, how it willhurt tenants they should not do
it how that will hurt us, how itwill hurt tenants.
So it's very important if youare in the city of Philadelphia,
reach out to your city councilmember and tell them how those
two bills will affect you andthat it's not going to provide
any value to the tenants or toyou and that actually will hurt
(12:36):
everyone.
And for more information, youcan just look it up.
The bills are 220044 and 220045, so you can look them up online
and see what the language, whatis the exact language of those
bills?
(12:57):
To wrap up, northeast Philly issolid, steady market right now,
with a lot of upside forlandlords who are in it for the
long haul.
If you own there or thinking ofbuying, keep an eye for those
upcoming neighborhood pieces inthe future.
And when it comes to citycouncil new proposals, it's
(13:19):
important to stay informed.
These changes can impact on howwe run our businesses and they
do impact that.
So I will keep bringing youupdates as they move forward and
I will include them in thisneighborhood-specific episodes.
I will give you some updates oneverything that's happening.
(13:39):
If you have any questions, youcan just post them in the
comments section.
You can follow us on socialmedia at phililandlordguy.
You can email us at info atphililandlordguycom.
Please like it, share it,subscribe, and thanks for
listening.
I will catch you next time.
(14:00):
And just as an update, since Irecorded this episode that came
from city council, aftertestimony from both sides
tenants, advocates, renters andproperty owners like myself the
committee decided to hold thebills for further consideration
rather than moving them forwardfor a full vote, which is good
for us.
Just to recap, the proposedlegislation would cap rental
(14:23):
application fees at $20 andrequire landlords to accept
security deposits in fourmonthly payments instead of
upfront.
So the idea of this legislationis aimed at lowering the
barriers to affordable housing,but many landlords, including
myself, spoke out about theimpact this could have, how it
(14:45):
might lead to tighter screening,more financial risks or push
small landlords out of thebusiness.
So for now, the bills are onhold, but they are still very
much alive.
I'll keep you posted here onthe show as things develop.
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