Knott (KY) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Landlord-owned properties comprise a significant 29.7% of the total Single-Family Residential market in Knott County, with a total of 1,048 properties held by investors.

The investor landscape is overwhelmingly dominated by 1,247 individual landlords who own 966 properties (92.2%), compared to just 82 company landlords holding 87 properties (8.3%).

A striking financial pattern emerges from the data: 97.0% of all investor-owned properties (1,017 of 1,048) are owned with cash, while only 3.0% (31 properties) are financed, signaling a market with very low leverage among investors.

The portfolio is heavily geared towards generating rental income, as evidenced by the 1,036 properties classified as rented, which accounts for 98.9% of all investor-owned SFRs in the county.

The data reveals a clear profile of the typical Knott County investor: an individual who purchases property with cash for the primary purpose of renting it out.

Investors in Knott County acquire properties at a deep discount compared to traditional homeowners, paying an average of $53,750 in Q4 2025, which is 53.8% less than the homeowner average of $116,357.

This price advantage for landlords is not a new phenomenon; it represents a consistent market dynamic. In the prior quarter (Q3 2025), the discount was even more pronounced at 79.0%, with landlords paying just $28,188 on average.

The quarter-over-quarter trend shows the discount, while still enormous, has narrowed from its peak of 79.0% in Q3 to 53.8% in Q4, a shift of 25.2 percentage points.

The significant and persistent price gap suggests that landlords and homeowners operate in different segments of the market. Investors appear to be successfully targeting undervalued or distressed assets that are not attracting traditional buyers.

Overall price appreciation shows a volatile trend, with the average landlord acquisition price in 2024 at $166,224 dropping to a 2025 average of $61,248, indicating a shift in the type or condition of properties being acquired by investors.

Investor activity was highly prominent in Q4 2025, with landlords acquiring 12 of the 32 total SFR properties sold in Knott County, a market share of 37.5%.

The entirety of this purchasing activity was driven by small-scale 'mom-and-pop' landlords (Tiers 01-04), who accounted for 100% of investor acquisitions, underscoring the grassroots nature of the local rental market.

New investors were the primary driver of Q4 activity. The single-property tier (Tier 01) alone accounted for 58.3% of all landlord purchases (7 properties), all bought by 7 distinct new entities.

Mid-size and institutional investors were completely absent from the market in Q4, with 0 properties purchased by entities owning more than 5 homes.

The data highlights a market where growth is fueled by new, small-scale investors rather than the expansion of large, existing portfolios.

The investor market in Knott County is defined by the dominance of small landlords. Investors owning 1-10 properties (Tiers 01-04) collectively control 99.6% of all landlord-owned SFRs.

The single-property landlord tier is the bedrock of the market, with 947 properties representing 88.5% of the total investor-owned housing stock.

The narrative of large-scale corporate ownership is non-existent in this county. Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1,000+ properties) own just one property, accounting for a mere 0.1% of the investor portfolio.

Ownership concentration dissipates rapidly in larger tiers. Landlords with 2 properties hold 5.7% of the stock, while those with 3-5 properties hold 5.2%.

This distribution reveals a highly fragmented market composed almost entirely of small, local investors rather than a consolidated market controlled by large firms.

Individual investors overwhelmingly control the market at every level of small-scale ownership. In the largest tier, single-property landlords, individuals own 879 properties (92.3%) compared to just 73 for companies.

This pattern of individual dominance is consistent across other tiers. For two-property portfolios, individuals own 93.4% of the properties, and for the 3-5 property tier, they own 92.9%.

Unlike in many other markets, there is no 'crossover point' in Knott County where companies become the majority owners. The market structure is firmly rooted in individual ownership from the smallest to mid-size portfolios.

The data clearly indicates that both entry-level investment and portfolio growth are primarily pursued by individuals rather than corporate entities.

Company ownership remains a niche segment, with only 7.7% of single-property portfolios and 7.1% of 3-5 property portfolios held by corporations.

The highest raw count of investor-owned properties is in the 41822 zip code (Hindman), with 143 landlord-owned SFRs, representing 32.4% of that area's housing stock.

High investor penetration is not limited to the largest areas. The zip code 41743 has the highest ownership rate in the county, with 46.2% of its SFR properties owned by investors.

Several other zip codes also exhibit high investor concentration, including 41834 (44.0%), 41725 (40.9%), and 41817 (39.6%), indicating widespread rental activity across smaller communities.

This highlights a key geographic pattern: the areas with the most investor properties are not necessarily the ones with the highest saturation, suggesting different investment strategies across the county.

The zip code 41839 (Pippa Passes) stands out for having both a high count (71 properties) and a high ownership rate (36.8%).

The transaction history reveals a clear and sustained trend of portfolio accumulation among Knott County landlords. In 2025, investors were strong net buyers, purchasing 59 properties while only selling 2.

This behavior is not a recent development. In 2024, landlords also acted as net buyers, with 45 acquisitions compared to just 8 sales, demonstrating a multi-year strategy of growth.

The net buying activity was also strong in the most recent quarter for which data is available, Q3 2025, where landlords bought 11 properties and sold only 2.

The high buy-to-sell ratio, which reached 29.5-to-1 in 2025, signals strong confidence in the local rental market and a long-term hold strategy among investors.

Data for institutional-level transactions (1,000+ tier) is not available, which aligns with their near-zero presence in the county's overall ownership data.

Investors played a significant role in the Q4 2025 market, participating in 14 of the 43 total transactions, for a 32.6% share of all activity.

All 14 of these transactions were conducted by mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04), with zero activity from institutional investors, mirroring the overall ownership structure in the county.

A distinct pricing pattern emerged among tiers: new, single-property landlords paid the most, with an average purchase price of $83,000. This is over three times higher than the prices paid by landlords with 2-5 properties, who averaged between $24,000 and $25,000.

This price discrepancy suggests that new entrants may be competing for more market-ready properties, while established small investors are targeting lower-priced, value-add opportunities.

The market shows no sign of inter-landlord trading, as 0% of landlord purchases came from other investors. This indicates landlords are acquiring properties from the traditional homeowner market rather than from other investors divesting their assets.