Franklin (FL) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Investors have a significant footprint in Franklin County, owning 3,028 single-family residential properties, which constitutes a substantial 45.7% of the total market inventory of 6,633 homes.

The market is overwhelmingly dominated by individual investors rather than corporations. Individuals own 2,450 properties (80.9% of the investor portfolio), while companies own 702 (23.2%). This pattern extends to the landlord entities themselves, where 3,533 individuals far outnumber the 644 company landlords.

A strong sign of market health and investor equity is the preference for cash ownership. A majority of the investor portfolio, 66.3% (2,008 properties), is owned outright without financing, compared to 33.7% (1,020 properties) that carry a mortgage.

The data confirms that these properties are almost exclusively used for rental income. A staggering 3,008 of the 3,028 investor-owned properties are designated as non-owner-occupied, representing a 99.3% rental penetration rate within the portfolio.

The number of distinct landlords (4,177) exceeds the number of distinct properties (3,028), indicating a prevalence of co-ownership arrangements among investors in the Franklin County market.

In Q4 2025, landlords demonstrated significant purchasing power, acquiring properties at an average price of $512,548, which is 25.0% below the traditional homeowner average of $683,000. This equates to a substantial $170,452 discount per property.

This Q4 advantage represents a major market shift from the prior two quarters. In Q3 2025, landlords paid a staggering 65.7% premium ($262,894 more than homeowners), and in Q2 they paid a 35.1% premium ($170,609 more), highlighting extreme price volatility.

The average landlord acquisition price in Q4 ($512,548) is the lowest recorded in 2025, breaking from a trend of prices consistently above $650,000 in the first three quarters of the year. This suggests a potential shift towards acquiring lower-cost assets.

Comparing recent activity to the pandemic era, the Q4 2025 average purchase price is notably 10.0% lower than the average of $569,057 seen during the 2020-2023 period, indicating a recent cooling in the prices investors are willing to pay.

The wild swings in the price gap, from a 47.1% discount in Q1 to a 65.7% premium in Q3 and back to a 25.0% discount in Q4, suggest a highly dynamic and opportunistic purchasing environment for investors in Franklin County.

Investors were the primary buyers in Franklin County's Q4 2025 housing market, purchasing 60 of the 119 total SFRs sold, a commanding market share of 50.4%.

The entirety of this purchasing activity was driven by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) accounted for 100% of the 60 properties acquired, with no purchases recorded by institutional investors (Tier 09).

New entrants flooded the market, signaling strong interest in Franklin County real estate. The single-property tier was the most active, with 68 new landlord entities purchasing 46 properties, which represents 76.7% of all investor acquisitions for the quarter.

Activity was highly concentrated at the smallest end of the investor spectrum. Beyond new landlords, investors in the two-property tier acquired 11 homes, and those in the 3-5 property tier bought 9, together making up the balance of Q4 activity.

The complete absence of institutional buying, coupled with the surge in new single-property landlords, reinforces that the growth in Franklin County's investor market is a grassroots phenomenon driven by individual capital.

The investor landscape in Franklin County is definitively controlled by small-scale operators. Mom-and-pop landlords, defined as those owning 1-10 properties (Tiers 01-04), command a 97.9% share of all investor-owned SFRs.

Ownership is exceptionally concentrated at the very bottom of the market. Single-property landlords (Tier 01) alone account for 2,598 properties, representing an overwhelming 82.4% of the total investor portfolio.

The market structure is profoundly fragmented and bottom-heavy. Following the dominant single-property tier, two-property landlords hold 8.0% of properties, and those with 3-5 properties hold another 6.2%, leaving very little housing stock for larger investors.

There is no evidence of large-scale corporate ownership in this market. Portfolios with more than 50 properties (Tiers 07-09) collectively own just 0.2% of the investor-held housing stock.

Confirming the mom-and-pop dominance, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have a 0.0% market share, indicating a complete absence of large-scale capital in the Franklin County SFR rental market.

Unlike many markets, there is no tier in Franklin County where company ownership surpasses individual ownership. Individual investors maintain a clear majority across all portfolio sizes, reinforcing the market's 'mom-and-pop' character.

Individual dominance is most pronounced in the single-property tier, where they own 2,161 homes, an 80.7% share compared to companies' 19.3%.

While company ownership share increases slightly with portfolio size, it never reaches a majority. The highest concentration for companies is in the 6-10 property tier, where they own 45.7% of properties, still falling short of the 54.3% held by individuals.

Even as investors scale up, individuals remain the primary owners. In the 11-20 property tier, individuals still own a commanding 65.4% of the properties.

This data clearly illustrates that the path to scaling a rental portfolio in Franklin County is one pursued predominantly by private individuals, not by the incorporation and expansion typical of corporate-heavy markets.

The geographic distribution of investor ownership within Franklin County is highly concentrated. The zip code 32328 stands out as the epicenter of activity, containing 1,399 investor-owned SFR properties.

The second most popular area for investors by property count is zip code 32322, with a significantly smaller portfolio of 606 properties.

Several zip codes exhibit investor ownership rates exceeding 50%, indicating markets where landlords own more than half the single-family housing stock. The highest rate is in 32346 at 55.5%.

The primary investment hub, 32328, is a leader in both raw numbers and market penetration, with its 1,399 properties translating to a 52.4% ownership rate. This signifies it is a mature and saturated investor market.

The data reveals a clear geographic strategy among investors, who are targeting specific zip codes rather than distributing their holdings evenly across the county.

Investor sentiment in Franklin County is strongly positive, with landlords acting as aggressive net buyers. In Q4 2025, they purchased 92 properties while selling only 7, resulting in a powerful 13.1-to-1 buy/sell ratio.

The high rate of acquisition is a consistent, long-term trend. For the full year of 2025, investors bought 387 properties and sold 50 (a 7.7x ratio), which is nearly identical to 2024's activity of 372 buys and 47 sells (a 7.9x ratio).

Recent activity indicates an acceleration in purchasing. The Q4 buy/sell ratio of 13.1x is substantially higher than the annual average, signaling increased investor confidence and a drive to expand portfolios at year-end.

Transaction volumes have remained remarkably stable year-over-year, with 387 purchases in 2025 compared to 372 in 2024, demonstrating consistent and robust demand from the investor community.

In line with ownership data, there were no recorded transactions by institutional-tier investors, confirming that all market activity is being driven by smaller-scale landlords.

Investor activity was a major component of the Q4 2025 market, as landlords were involved in 92 of the 197 total SFR transactions, a share of 46.7%.

A dramatic pricing gap exists between investor tiers, suggesting different acquisition strategies. Two-property landlords (Tier 02) paid the highest average price at $973,833 per property.

In stark contrast, new single-property investors (Tier 01) acquired homes at the lowest price point, averaging $446,660. This is less than half the average paid by their slightly larger Tier 02 counterparts, a difference of over $527,000.

Investors are sourcing their properties primarily from the traditional market, not from each other. Inter-landlord transactions were minimal, with only 4.4% of purchases by Tier 01 investors coming from another landlord, and 0% for the 3-5 property tier.

All 92 landlord transactions in Q4 were executed by mom-and-pop tiers, with zero activity from institutional investors, confirming their complete absence from the transactional market.