Audubon (IA) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

In Audubon County, investors hold a significant 13.2% of the Single-Family Residential market, totaling 244 properties.

The market is overwhelmingly controlled by individual 'mom-and-pop' style investors, who own 196 properties, or 80.3% of the investor portfolio. Company-owned properties constitute the remaining 48 homes (19.7%).

This individual dominance is even more pronounced when looking at entity counts, with 248 individual landlords compared to just 34 company landlords, a ratio of more than 7 to 1.

A key characteristic of this market is the preference for all-cash ownership. A substantial 200 of the 244 investor-owned properties are held free of financing, compared to only 44 that are financed, indicating a low-leverage investment strategy among local landlords.

The portfolio is clearly geared towards generating rental income, with 236 of the 244 properties identified as being rented, demonstrating the primary business model for investors in the area.

Investors in Audubon County acquire properties at a remarkably deep discount compared to traditional homeowners. In Q4 2025, the average landlord purchase price was just $53,643, a full 69.0% lower than the $172,979 average paid by homeowners.

This price advantage translates to an average savings of $119,336 per property for investors, suggesting they operate in a different market segment, likely targeting distressed, off-market, or lower-condition homes.

The trend of significant discounts is not new. In Q3 2025, landlords paid 67.3% less ($55,000 vs. $168,355), and in Q2 they paid 71.7% less ($42,500 vs. $150,313), highlighting a consistent and sustainable purchasing strategy.

The only recent exception was Q1 2025, where a higher-priced landlord acquisition at $115,000 narrowed the discount to 22.6%, demonstrating that occasional outliers can occur in a low-volume market.

Overall acquisition prices for landlords in 2025 have averaged $53,324, a significant drop from the 2024 average of $79,472, indicating a shift towards acquiring even lower-priced assets this year.

Investor activity accounted for 19.2% of the housing market in Q4 2025, with landlords acquiring 5 of the 26 total SFR properties sold in Audubon County.

The entirety of this purchasing activity was driven by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (owning 1-10 properties) made up 100.0% of all investor acquisitions this quarter.

The market is being shaped by new entrants. Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the most active group, purchasing 4 of the 5 properties and representing 80.0% of Q4 investor buying volume.

This highlights a trend of market growth through new, small investors, as 4 new landlord entities entered the market by purchasing their first rental property.

Confirming the local nature of the market, there was a complete absence of purchasing from large-scale institutional investors (1,000+ properties), who made zero acquisitions in Q4.

The investor landscape in Audubon County is unequivocally dominated by mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties), who collectively own 229 of the 244 investor properties, representing a 93.9% ownership share.

The foundation of this market is the single-property landlord. This tier alone accounts for 171 properties, or 69.5% of all investor-owned housing, underscoring the granular, small-scale nature of rental ownership.

Mid-size landlords (11-1000 properties) have a very small footprint, with only three tiers represented, collectively owning just 15 properties or 6.1% of the investor portfolio.

The data clearly shows that as portfolio size increases, the number of landlords and properties drops off sharply, reinforcing the lack of consolidation in the local rental market.

There is absolutely no ownership by large institutional investors (Tier 09), who hold 0.0% of the market. This defies the common narrative of corporate landlord takeover and confirms the market's hyper-local character.

Individual investors are the primary owners in every active landlord tier in Audubon County, with no crossover point where companies become dominant.

In the largest tier, single-property landlords, individuals own 153 of the 171 properties, an 89.5% share, while companies own just 18 properties (10.5%).

This pattern continues in the two-property tier, where individuals hold 19 properties (70.4%) compared to 8 properties for companies (29.6%).

Even in the small landlord tier (3-5 properties), individual ownership remains overwhelming at 89.7% (26 properties), with companies holding only 3 properties (10.3%).

The data shows no evidence of corporate consolidation. Instead, it demonstrates a consistent market structure where rental housing is overwhelmingly provided by private individuals rather than corporate entities.

Within Audubon County, investor ownership is geographically concentrated, with the zip code 50025 (Audubon) holding the largest number of investor properties at 127.

While 50025 leads in sheer volume, its investor ownership rate is a more moderate 11.9%, indicating a large overall housing stock.

In contrast, the highest rate of investor penetration is in zip code 50110 (Gray), where investors own 35.5% of the SFR properties, signaling a much higher density of rental housing.

Zip code 50076 (Exira) also shows significant investor presence, with 63 properties and a 14.1% ownership rate, making it another key area for rental properties.

This distinction between the areas with the most investor properties (count) and the highest investor saturation (percentage) reveals different market dynamics across the small geography of the county.

Historical transaction data shows that landlords in Audubon County are in an accumulation phase, consistently buying more properties than they sell.

Throughout 2025, landlords have been strong net buyers, adding a net of 12 properties to their portfolios with 14 purchases against only 2 sales.

This follows a similar pattern from 2024, where investors were also net buyers, acquiring 10 properties while selling just 3 for a net gain of 7 properties.

The buy-to-sell ratio for 2025 stands at an aggressive 7-to-1, signaling strong confidence in the local rental market and a clear strategy of portfolio expansion.

While transaction volume is modest, the directional trend is unambiguous: the local investor base is growing its holdings, not divesting.

In Q4 2025, landlords were involved in 12.5% of all SFR transactions, accounting for 5 of the 40 total deals in Audubon County.

All investor transaction activity was confined to mom-and-pop tiers. Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the most active, conducting 4 transactions at an average purchase price of $62,054.

A single transaction occurred in the 6-10 property tier, at a significantly lower price point of $20,000, showcasing the variability in asset quality targeted by different small investors.

There was zero inter-landlord trading this quarter; 0.0% of investor purchases were sourced from other landlords. This shows that investors are acquiring properties from traditional homeowners or estates, not from each other.

The complete lack of transactions from institutional tiers reinforces their absence from this market, with all activity driven by small, local buyers.