A seller in Allentown lists a two-story rowhome, gets an offer within a week, and assumes the next step is scheduling the buyer's home inspection. Then the buyer's agent asks a different question: has the city's presale inspection been requested yet. Sellers should understand the request deadline before listing.
That difference is worth understanding before you list. In most Pennsylvania municipalities, the inspection that decides whether a house passes muster belongs to the buyer. They order it, they negotiate around it. In Allentown, the inspection belongs to the city. The Bureau of Building Standards and Safety inspects the property, decides whether it passes, and issues the paperwork that has to exist before title can legally transfer. Nobody, including the buyer, gets to opt out.
The Clock Starts Before You Have a Buyer
Allentown's city code requires that anyone offering a residential property for sale request a presale inspection within five business days of listing it or receiving an offer to sell. The Bureau of Building Standards and Safety then has three business days to issue an inspection report once the inspection happens. That report is good for one year from the date it was issued, which means sellers who list early and inspect early can carry a clean report through more than one buyer if a deal falls apart.
The rule sits in Chapter 455, Article III of the city's code, most recently amended in December 2025. It applies to single-family homes, duplexes, multifamily buildings, and the residential portions of mixed-use properties.
What Sellers Should Know About Older Allentown Homes
Allentown's older housing stock makes maintenance an important consideration for sellers. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey five-year estimates, roughly 38 percent of Allentown's housing units were built in 1939 or earlier. A large share of the rest predates 1960. Wiring installed under a different code cycle, plumbing that's been patched rather than replaced, and foundations that have settled over eight decades are examples of conditions sellers may encounter in inspection findings.
Knowing that older homes may need repairs can help sellers plan for repair costs before a transaction.
The fee structure below is what the city currently charges to run that process, according to the presale request form filed with the Bureau of Building Standards and Safety; the city's presale procedure sets the costs of later re-inspections.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Initial inspection, up to 3 units | $100 |
| Each additional unit | $25 |
| Second re-inspection | $75 per unit |
| Third and subsequent re-inspections | $150 per unit |
A single-family seller pays $100 for the initial inspection and moves on. A four-unit property that needs three rounds of corrections is looking at several hundred dollars in inspection fees alone, on top of whatever repairs the violations require. The total varies with the property’s unit count and the number of re-inspections needed.
Non-compliance carries its own escalating cost. A first violation gets a written notice. A second draws a $500 fine. A third is $750. A fourth and any after that are $1,000 each. That's a separate track from the re-inspection fees, and it applies to owners who ignore the requirement rather than sellers who are actively working through it.
Buyer Acceptance and Financing
Allentown's process includes an option. If the inspection turns up violations, the seller doesn't have to fix everything before closing. Through what the city calls Buyer Acceptance, a buyer can sign a form acknowledging the violations and agreeing to correct them after taking possession. The buyer then has 30 days from taking possession to begin abating those violations.
This sounds like flexibility, and for the right buyer it is. But it only works cleanly when there's no lender in the picture. A cash buyer can sign the acceptance and move on. A financed buyer runs into a second gatekeeper: their lender. Mortgage underwriters routinely require a Certificate of Compliance before they'll fund, and an open violation on a city inspection report is exactly the kind of thing an underwriter flags. If the certificate isn't issued before settlement, the closing can stall or the financing can fall through entirely, regardless of what the buyer personally is willing to accept.
This distinction is important for sellers to understand. Sellers may assume they can waive this one, too. The city's process and the buyer's financing are two separate systems, and each has its own requirements.
Cash Buyers and the Presale Inspection
A related misconception is worth clearing up directly: cash doesn't exempt a sale from the presale inspection requirement. The ordinance applies to the transfer of title, not to how the buyer is financing it. What a cash buyer can do that a financed buyer usually can't is complete the Buyer Acceptance process without a lender objecting, since there's no underwriter in the chain to reject an open violation. That's a real advantage for investors and all-cash purchasers working in Allentown's older housing stock, and it's part of why cash offers on properties with known code issues often land below what a repaired, financeable property would command. The gap isn't arbitrary. It reflects who's absorbing the cost and timeline risk of getting the property back into compliance.
The Vacant Property Registry
In July 2026, WFMZ reported that Allentown's city council approved a new vacant property registry, distinct from the presale inspection program but designed to work alongside it. Director of Building Standards and Safety Heidi Westerman told council the registry exists so the city has an accurate list of which properties are actually vacant, since first responders have in the past entered buildings not knowing whether they were occupied. The registration fee runs $150 for a standard residential vacancy and $300 for one expected to stay vacant more than 90 days.
Here's the part that connects back to the presale process: the city has indicated it won't charge that registration fee to owners who have already completed a presale inspection on the property they're selling. In practice, a report that already exists in the city's system is becoming something sellers can point to across more than one municipal requirement, not just the sale itself. That's a small signal of a larger direction: Allentown is building out interlocking systems around property condition and occupancy, and the presale inspection report is turning into a piece of documentation with a life beyond the transaction it was created for.
What This Means for Timing Your Sale
The practical takeaway is sequencing. Request the presale inspection as early as the five-business-day window allows, ideally at listing rather than after an offer arrives, since the report is valid for a full year and can carry you through more than one buyer if a deal falls through. Budget for the possibility of a second inspection round on any home built before 1960, since that's where the failure rate concentrates. And if a buyer's financing is part of the deal, treat the Certificate of Compliance as a closing requirement with its own timeline, not an afterthought that can be handled with a signature at the table.
A Few Quick Answers
How long does a passed inspection report stay valid? One year from the date it was issued, which means a report from an earlier attempted sale can sometimes still be used if the property goes back on the market within that window.
Getting the sequencing right on a requirement like this is exactly where local, hands-on guidance earns its keep. If you're weighing a sale in Allentown and want a clear read on timing, repair costs, or how a specific property is likely to inspect, The Cliff Lewis Experience can walk through it with you before you list, not after an offer is already on the table. Contact us.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
