A wine director purchased a 1910 South Philly rowhouse with help from the city | How I Bought My House
A grant, steady saving, and a price break turned a dream of homeownership into a South Philly reality.
The buyer: Michael Lancaster, 34, wine director
The house: A 1910 rowhouse in South Philly with two bedrooms and 1.5 baths on a 672-square-foot lot.
The price: Listed for $270,000, purchased for $256,000
The agent: June Kang, Compass
The ask: After a decade of bopping around apartments with roommates, Michael Lancaster wanted a place of his own. “Renting a home, you never really feel like it’s yours,” he said. Haunted by once commuting 2½ hours one way, his top priority was proximity to work. He wanted a 15-minute walk to the Bok building, where he works as the wine director at Irwin’s. He also wanted a gas stove. “I just can’t stand cooking on an electric stove,” Lancaster said.
The search: Lancaster linked up with June Kang, an agent with Compass and Irwin’s regular, in April 2023. Things got off to a slow start. “A couple of the houses were in varying states of disrepair,” he said. “There’s a lot of issues keeping the floors level in these row homes, so you would walk into the house and it would look like it’s dipped in the center.” That was a deal-breaker, as was moisture in the basement. “If I went down and it smelled like mildew, then it was a no,” he said.
He wanted something turnkey. After searching for about a week, he found a house in great shape and a prime location — but it had been sitting on the market for five months, which Lancaster said, “was a little alarming.” He thought there must be a catch.
The appeal: As a fan of bright colors, he was drawn to the lime-green front door, which was “definitely a standout on the block.” He also loved the location and vibes. He toured the home on the first warm day of spring, and everybody was hanging out in the street. “It just felt like a real neighborhood,” Lancaster said.
Inside, he was thrilled to discover that the home got great light. He loved the structural features like high ceilings and exposed brick and its updated design. The previous owners had renovated the year before and he liked the fixtures and paint colors they chose. He also appreciated that they didn’t install the “fake wood flooring that you see everywhere in Philly renovations,” and kept the original wood.
The deal: The house was listed for $270,000, which was within Lancaster’s budget so he felt ready to make an offer, but his agent suggested an inspection. The inspector found water pooling on the top of the roof and a furnace on the verge of kicking the can.
The sellers lowered the price to $255,000. Lancaster offered $256,000. They accepted and Lancaster closed on May 22, one month after he started the home-buying journey.
The money: Lancaster got serious about saving in 2021. By the time he was ready to buy two years later, he had saved $30,000. He also had $6,500 from the Philly First Home Buyer grant, which offers up to $10,000 (or 6% of the home’s purchase price, whichever is lower) to first-time homebuyers within certain income limits.
Lancaster put down $13,500 and secured a 30-year fixed mortgage at a 6.5% interest rate. He paid a little under $20,000 in closing costs, which included a $4,500 commitment fee, property taxes, city taxes, prepaid interest, and a transfer tax.
The move: Closing day was five weeks before the lease on his apartment was up, so Lancaster was able to take his time. He hired someone from TaskRabbit to transport a few large items, but otherwise moved everything in his car.
Any reservations? “The kitchen is tiny, ” Lancaster said. “I would love a little bit more space.” Otherwise, he’s happy with his purchase. “There was nothing glaringly bad about the house. That was the selling point.”
Life after close: The evening he moved in, he brought champagne to his neighbors, who were sitting outside. “They offered to take a picture of me in front of my house, which was very sweet,” Lancaster said. “Philly is neighborly like that.”
Lancaster didn’t change much once he was settled. Except the roof. “It started leaking three weeks after I moved in,” he said. So Lancaster forked over $4,000 to replace it. The furnace is still kicking.