How much house will $300K buy you in Philadelphia?

If you prefer a single family home, you can buy this five bedroom Colonial with a big yard. Interior photos make me think it needs at least a little cosmetic work, but could be lived in immediately if you weren't picky. The neighborhood is about 20 minutes from Center City. It's more racially integrated than some other areas of the city, but the crime rate is creeping up.



Or, if you prefer a rental property, you can buy this triplex, which is about 10 minutes from Center City. It has a 3-bedroom apartment and two 2-bedroom apartments. Newly renovated with separate utilities. If I had to guess I'd say rental income on this property would be somewhere around $3000 to $3500 per month, depending on its exact location.

Upsides: low property taxes, decent public transportation, annual film festival and lots of other cultural events, racially integrated, experiencing some economic recovery, huge public park, beautiful architecture, affordable housing, big LGBT community, great bookstores

Downsides: the weather sucks, high city payroll taxes (twice as much as PA state taxes), bad schools, lots of blighted neighborhoods, low-paying jobs, corrupt local gov't, and did I mention the weather sucks?