Bourbon (KS) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Investors hold a significant footprint in Bourbon County, owning 1,235 single-family residential properties, which constitutes 27.8% of the total market inventory of 4,443 SFRs.

The investor landscape is overwhelmingly composed of individual 'mom-and-pop' landlords, who own 1,024 properties (82.9% of the investor portfolio). In contrast, company-owned properties number just 211, or 17.1%.

This individual dominance is also reflected in the entity counts, with 1,098 individual landlords compared to only 114 company entities, a ratio of nearly 10 to 1.

Cash is the preferred acquisition method among Bourbon County investors, with 1,031 properties owned outright. This figure far surpasses the 204 properties that are financed, signaling a market with low leverage and high equity.

The portfolio is heavily geared towards generating rental income, as evidenced by the 1,191 properties classified as non-owner-occupied, representing the vast majority of investor-owned homes in the county.

A dramatic pricing advantage for investors was evident in Q3 2025, the last quarter with recorded landlord purchases. Landlords paid an average of just $61,362 per property, a 65.3% discount compared to the $176,870 average paid by traditional homeowners.

This price gap amounts to an average savings of $115,508 per property, indicating that investors in Bourbon County are exceptionally effective at acquiring distressed or off-market properties well below typical retail prices.

The lack of any landlord purchases in Q4 2025 or Q1 2025 prevents a direct analysis of recent price gap trends, but highlights a complete cessation of acquisition activity.

Historical data shows price volatility, with the average landlord acquisition price in 2024 recorded at $143,256, significantly higher than the pandemic-era (2020-2023) average of $107,900 and the most recent Q3 2025 average.

The fourth quarter of 2025 marked a complete freeze in the Bourbon County investor market, with landlords making zero SFR purchases. This brought their market share of new acquisitions to 0.0%.

This inactivity was universal across all investor sizes. Mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties), who typically dominate the market, made zero purchases in Q4.

Similarly, institutional investors (1,000+ properties) also recorded zero purchases, reflecting a market-wide pause rather than a shift in activity between different investor tiers.

The data indicates no new landlords entered the market in Q4, as the single-property (Tier 01) category, a proxy for new entrants, also reported zero acquisitions.

This halt in purchasing is a stark contrast to previous periods and signals a significant shift in market conditions or investor sentiment at the end of 2025.

The investor market in Bourbon County is unequivocally dominated by small-scale landlords. Mom-and-pop investors (owning 1-10 properties) control a combined 87.6% of all investor-owned SFRs.

First-time or single-property landlords are the bedrock of the rental market, with 734 properties (57.5%) held in this tier alone. This demonstrates a low barrier to entry and a fragmented ownership landscape.

Mid-size landlords (11-100 properties) hold a smaller but still notable share, controlling a combined 12.3% of the investor-owned housing stock.

In a clear sign of a 'Main Street' over 'Wall Street' market, there is zero presence from institutional investors. The 1,000+ property tier holds 0.0% of the market share.

The data reveals a highly granular market structure, where the vast majority of rental housing is provided by landlords with small portfolios, rather than large corporate entities.

Individual investors form the foundation of ownership in smaller portfolios. They own 89.9% of single-property (Tier 01) holdings and 85.4% of two-property (Tier 02) holdings.

A significant shift in ownership structure occurs in the 11-20 property tier, which serves as the crossover point. At this level, ownership is evenly split, with individuals and companies each holding 46 properties (50.0%).

Even as portfolio sizes grow, individuals maintain a strong presence. In the 21-50 property tier, individuals surprisingly hold a 94.1% majority share, indicating that even larger local portfolios are often personally held.

Companies have their strongest foothold in the small-to-mid-size tiers, capturing 23.4% of the 3-5 property tier and 50.0% of the 11-20 property tier, but do not achieve majority control at any level.

This pattern indicates that while incorporating becomes more common as portfolios scale, individual ownership remains the predominant model across nearly the entire investor landscape in Bourbon County.

Geographic analysis reveals a market with extreme concentration. A single zip code, KS-Bourbon-66701, is the epicenter of investor activity, containing 1,014 of the county's 1,235 investor-owned properties.

This concentration in 66701 means it alone holds 82.1% of the entire investor portfolio in Bourbon County, indicating a clear strategic focus for local landlords.

While 66701 leads overwhelmingly by volume, other smaller zip codes exhibit higher market penetration rates. For instance, in KS-Bourbon-66716, investors own 63 properties, which represents a 42.6% ownership rate, the highest in the county.

Similarly, zip codes like 66711 (33.3% rate) and 66755 (44.4% rate) also show deep investor penetration, suggesting that in certain micro-markets, landlords are the dominant property owners.

This highlights a key distinction between where investors own the most properties (volume) versus where they control the largest share of the market (penetration).

Historical data shows a clear pattern of accumulation by landlords in Bourbon County. In Q3 2025, they were net buyers, acquiring 10 properties while selling only 6.

This net buyer status was a consistent trend. For the full year of 2025, landlords purchased 16 SFRs and sold 13. The accumulation was even more aggressive in 2024, with 45 properties bought and only 11 sold, a buy-to-sell ratio of over 4-to-1.

The sudden halt of all transactions in Q4 2025 represents a sharp and anomalous break from this established multi-year trend of portfolio growth.

Given the 0.0% market share of institutional investors (1,000+ tier), all transactional activity is driven by small and mid-size landlords, making their collective behavior a direct indicator of local market sentiment.

In Q4 2025, the transaction market for investors in Bourbon County came to a standstill, with their share of all SFR transactions dropping to 0.0%.

This market freeze was comprehensive, affecting every investor segment. Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04), who are typically the most active, recorded zero transactions for the quarter.

This inactivity extended to all tiers, indicating a broad-based market pause rather than a strategic retreat by a specific investor type.

As a result of the lack of activity, there were no inter-landlord trades. The percentage of properties bought from other landlords was 0%, signaling a complete lack of liquidity within the investor community during Q4.

The average purchase price across all tiers was effectively $0, reflecting the total absence of transactional data for the quarter.