Short answer: Allentown requires a pre-sale inspection before a home is sold. FastCashAnyHome buys Allentown houses for cash, as-is — no repairs, no commissions charged to the seller, no bank loan or appraisal needed on your side — with closing typically in 30 days or less. Call or text 267-388-0347.
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Allentown requires a pre-sale inspection when a house is sold
The City of Allentown states it on its own Pre-Sale Inspections page: “Before selling a commercial or residential property, it must undergo a safety and maintenance inspection to meet city standards outlined in the Allentown Property Maintenance Code.”
The sequence the city describes:
- Apply for a Pre-Sale permit; an inspector schedules a visit.
- If it passes, you receive a Certificate of Compliance before the sale.
- “If code violations are found, you’ll need to fix them, unless the buyer agrees to do so.” — that acceptance goes on the city’s Pre-Sales Buyer Acceptance Form (“As-Is”).
- After settlement, a Buyer’s Information Report is submitted within three days.
The governing ordinance is Article XIX, Pre-Sales Inspection of Residential Properties and Units (City of Allentown, Pre-Sale Inspections, read 2026-08-25 and again 2026-10-19; program phone 610-437-7694).
Why this matters more than anything else on this page: in Allentown, the repair list is not just a negotiating position between you and a buyer. It is a municipal step standing between the house and a closing — unless a buyer signs for it.
What the pre-sale inspection costs, and when to request it
The city’s written procedure fills in what its web page leaves out (City of Allentown, Pre-Sales Inspection Procedure, read 2026-10-19):
- When: within five business days of offering the property for sale, the seller or the seller’s agent has to request and pay for the inspection. The city’s list covers sales through an agent, for sale by owner, wholesale, auction, tax sale and sheriff sale, so a sale without an agent is covered too.
- Cost: $100 for a residential property of up to three units, plus $25 for each unit beyond three. The fee is non-refundable and includes one re-inspection within 30 days of the first visit. A second re-inspection is $75 per unit, and any after that $150 per unit.
- How long it lasts: the inspection report is “valid for 1 year from the date of inspection.” After that, it is a new inspection and a new fee.
- Skipping it: “No exceptions will be made if the property transfers and a Presale Inspection was not requested or completed. Both parties are subject to enforcement actions and fees charged by the Department for Non-compliance.”
You can apply online through the city’s CSS portal, by mail, or in person at City Hall, 435 Hamilton Street, 3rd floor. Selling for cash is not a way around any of this; a buyer who says the inspection can be skipped is contradicting the city’s own procedure.
Selling as-is in Allentown: what the buyer signs
If the inspection finds violations, the city gives the seller two choices: correct them before the transfer, or have the buyer take them on. The buyer takes them on with the city’s Acceptance Form. The procedure says it “will include a signed notarized statement including the Buyer’s name, contact information and settlement date,” and that it acknowledges the buyer “received the Inspection Report and that they are willing to assume responsibilities by abating the code violations by the next re-inspection date.” The seller “must provide a copy of the Inspection Report to the Buyer.” If the work is not done by that re-inspection, the re-inspection fees and any enforcement fall on the buyer. The residential form itself has two more boxes: one for a buyer who has not received the report yet and agrees to get it from the city within 3 business days of settlement, and one for a sale that settles before the inspection has happened, with the inspection already scheduled. In every version the buyer agrees to fix whatever the report lists, and the form has to be notarized.
One detail to pin down early: the city’s two documents give the form’s timing differently. The procedure says the department must receive it at least 3 days before the transfer. The residential form itself says it is completed at settlement and faxed to the city within 3 business days after it (City of Allentown, Residential Pre-Sale Acceptance Form, revised 5/11/26). Ask the Pre-Sales Program at 610-437-7694 which applies to your settlement, and write the answer into the agreement of sale. Our guide to selling a house as-is covers the rest of an as-is sale.
Where we fit in the pre-sale step
We buy as-is. Where the city’s process allows the buyer to accept outstanding violations rather than requiring the seller to cure them first, that is the role we expect to take.
Put it in the written agreement rather than taking anyone’s word for it — ours included. That is the correct instruction for any buyer who tells you they will handle it, and a buyer who will not put it in writing has told you something.
The rest of the Allentown picture
Allentown is Pennsylvania’s third-largest city — population 126,044 — and 43.2% owner-occupied, with a median owner-occupied value of $206,600 across about 46,374 households (2020–2024 American Community Survey and Vintage 2025 estimates, Census QuickFacts, read 2026-08-25).
Three things follow:
- Most of the city is rented. 56.8% of occupied homes are rented (26,339 of 46,374, same Census tables), so many houses that sell here come with a tenant. We buy occupied rentals with tenants in place and take the lease as it stands, which also keeps the pre-sale process simpler than emptying a building first.
- The county is a different market from the city. Lehigh County’s median owner-occupied value is $300,400 against the city’s $206,600 (QuickFacts). A number quoted for “Allentown” that is really a county figure is not describing a city house.
- The houses are old, and many share a wall. Half of Allentown’s housing units were built in 1952 or earlier, and 37.9% date from 1939 or earlier; attached one-family houses outnumber detached ones, 17,831 units to 12,820 (2020–2024 American Community Survey, tables B25034 and B25024, read through the Census Data API 2026-10-19). On houses that age, the pre-sale report is where years of deferred work show up on paper.
Carrying cost while a property waits: the Census puts the median monthly cost of owning an Allentown home without a mortgage at $619.
Where in Allentown we buy
The city’s comprehensive plan, Allentown Vision 2030 (final report, November 2019), calls Allentown “a collection of neighborhoods” and splits it into four planning areas. We buy houses in all four, including the neighborhoods and corridors the plan names inside them:
- East Allentown, along the Hanover and Union commercial corridors that the plan says connect Allentown and Bethlehem.
- South Allentown, including the Fairview neighborhood, which the plan counts among the city’s oldest areas, and the blocks around South Fourth Street.
- Center Allentown: Center City, the downtown business district on Hamilton Street, the Seventh Street corridor, and the First and Sixth Wards by the river.
- West Allentown, including the West End and its Theatre District.
Whichever one the house is in, the pre-sale inspection above is a City of Allentown requirement, so the Pre-Sales Program at 610-437-7694 is still the office that rules on it.
Vacant or rented: two more city registrations that come with the house
Allentown keeps two more lists that matter when a house changes hands.
- Rentals. “If you rent out a house or apartment in Allentown, you must register it with the city by law.” The unit is inspected, then gets a rental license that covers the calendar year and is renewed every year at $75 per unit (City of Allentown, Rental Unit Registration & Inspection Program).
- Vacant houses. A building that “has not been occupied for more than 90 consecutive days” has to be registered within 15 calendar days after it passes 90 days empty (or after the city gives written notice that it is vacant), at $150 a year for a residential property, and the registration renews every year “until the property is lawfully occupied, sold, or otherwise removed from the registry” (City of Allentown, Vacant Property Registration).
An inherited house that has stood empty for more than three months is past the city’s 90-day line, and a house with a tenant needs a current rental license. Tell us which applies; both are things we ask about and price around, along with the tenants in place or the empty house itself.
How a sale to us runs
Call or text 267-388-0347 with the address and a rough description of condition. We price it on comparable sales, condition and the leases in place, and we show the arithmetic. The first number is an initial offer; after a walkthrough a person confirms it or explains exactly what changed and why.
Closing goes through a neutral, third-party title company, typically 30 days or less, with flexible dates. You pay no commissions and no service fees to us. Mortgages, judgments and municipal liens are paid from the proceeds at closing, as in any sale. Pennsylvania’s state realty transfer tax of 1% applies to the deed, plus the local municipal and school district rate (PA Department of Revenue).
Call or text 267-388-0347 for a no-obligation cash offer on your Allentown house.
When a listing is the better move
If the house would pass the pre-sale inspection without much work, is financeable, and you have a few months, list it. A cash-as-is offer prices in the condition and the risk, so it trails a prepared listing. We say so when it is true.
The cash route earns its keep when the violation list is long, the money to cure it is not there, the property is inherited or tenanted, or the date matters more than the price difference.
Other areas we buy in
Questions
Does the pre-sale inspection apply to every sale?
The city’s page states the requirement for commercial and residential property; the ordinance is Article XIX. Check your specific property with the Pre-Sales Program at 610-437-7694 — they are the authority on it, not us.
If violations turn up, do I have to fix them before selling to you?
Our purchases are as-is, and the city’s own process contemplates a buyer accepting the violations in writing. Confirm the arrangement in the agreement of sale.
Can you buy with tenants in place?
Yes, with the lease as written.
Do you buy in the rest of the Lehigh Valley?
Yes — Allentown, the surrounding Lehigh County boroughs and townships, the rest of Pennsylvania and across the U.S. The pre-sale inspection on this page is the City of Allentown’s ordinance; outside the city line, ask that borough’s or township’s code office whether it has a resale inspection of its own.
Can I sell my house as-is in Allentown?
Yes, but the inspection still has to be requested. The buyer can take on whatever it finds by signing the city’s notarized Acceptance Form instead of you correcting the violations first. The residential form has boxes for a report not yet received and for an inspection that is only scheduled, but the city’s written procedure reads stricter, so confirm with the Pre-Sales Program at 610-437-7694 before relying on either.
How much does the Allentown pre-sale inspection cost?
$100 for a residential property of up to three units, plus $25 for each unit over three, and the fee is non-refundable. It includes one re-inspection within 30 days; a second re-inspection is $75 per unit (city procedure, read 2026-10-19).
How soon after listing do I have to request it?
Within five business days of offering the property for sale, whether the sale is through an agent, by owner, at auction, or at a tax or sheriff sale.
Who handles past-due property taxes in Lehigh County?
Lehigh County says Elite Revenue Solutions (610-782-3119), as agent for its Tax Claim Bureau, collects delinquent county, borough, township and school real estate taxes in the county, and it points to the same agent for tax-sale information (Lehigh County, Fiscal Department / Tax Claims Bureau). That list does not name City of Allentown taxes; ask the city’s Finance Department at City Hall about those. If you want to keep the house, call them before any sale date; our Pennsylvania page explains how county tax sales work. If selling is the better answer, the back taxes are paid from the sale price at closing, like any other lien.
Do I need to clean the property out?
No. Leave what you do not want; the cleanout is ours after closing.
FastCashAnyHome · 267-388-0347 · Buying houses in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Texas and across the U.S. · General information, not legal or tax advice. No obligation.