Big Stone (MN) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Landlords in Big Stone County collectively own 605 Single Family Residential (SFR) properties, accounting for a substantial 32.2% of the county's total SFR market of 1,881 properties.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the landlord landscape, owning 548 SFR properties, which represents 90.6% of the total investor-owned portfolio. Companies, in contrast, own only 60 properties (9.9%), underscoring the prevalence of small-scale investors.

The ownership structure by entity type is highly skewed towards individuals, with 696 individual landlords compared to just 44 company landlords, resulting in a 15.82:1 ratio highlighting the mom-and-pop foundation of the local rental market.

A significant majority of landlord-owned properties, 594 out of 605, are rented, indicating a strong focus on generating rental income with 98.2% of the portfolio dedicated to non-owner-occupied use.

The mode of acquisition reveals a strong preference for cash purchases among landlords, with 482 properties (79.7%) acquired entirely with cash. Only 123 properties (20.3%) were financed, demonstrating a conservative, equity-rich investment approach.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Big Stone County paid an average acquisition price of $170,050, which was a $1,425 premium (0.8%) compared to the average homeowner price of $168,625.

This Q4 premium marks a significant narrowing from earlier in 2025, where landlords paid much higher premiums: 219.5% in Q2 ($185,813 vs $58,150) and 101.4% in Q3 ($171,183 vs $85,000).

The trend reveals that while landlords have consistently paid a premium over traditional homeowners throughout 2025, this gap has substantially narrowed, with the Q4 premium being the smallest of the year.

Despite listed average acquisition prices for landlords, the data indicates 0 properties were acquired by landlords in the aggregate for 2024, 2025, and the 2020-2023 period, highlighting very low or specific landlord acquisition activity during those broader timeframes.

The implied price appreciation for landlords from the 2020-2023 period's average of $121,151 to Q4 2025's average of $170,050, represents a significant 40.4% increase, reflecting robust market growth over time.

In Q4 2025, landlords were highly active in Big Stone County, purchasing 13 Single Family Residential (SFR) properties. This represents 68.4% of the total 19 SFR properties acquired in the county during the quarter, significantly outpacing non-landlord buyers who purchased 7 properties.

The purchasing activity was almost entirely driven by smaller investors, with mom-and-pop landlords (Tier 01-04) responsible for 12 of the 13 landlord purchases, representing 92.3% of all landlord acquisitions.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the most active, acquiring 11 properties (84.6% of landlord purchases). These purchases were made by 18 distinct entities, signaling a strong entry of new, small-scale investors into the market.

Mid-size landlords also showed activity, with two-property landlords (Tier 02) purchasing 1 property and small-medium landlords (Tier 05-08, 11-20 properties) also purchasing 1 property.

Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) remained entirely inactive in Q4 2025, recording 0 purchases and 0.0% of landlord acquisition share, highlighting their non-involvement in the Big Stone County SFR market.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tier 01-04) are the overwhelming force in Big Stone County's investor-owned SFR market, controlling 596 properties, which constitutes a commanding 98.5% of the total 605 landlord-owned SFR properties.

The market is heavily concentrated in the smallest tiers: Single-property landlords (Tier 01) account for 501 properties (81.7%), while two-property landlords (Tier 02) and small landlords (Tier 03, 3-5 properties) each hold 40 properties (6.5%).

Larger tiers, such as small landlords (Tier 04, 6-10 properties) and small-medium landlords (Tier 05, 11-20 properties), hold significantly fewer properties, with 15 (2.4%) and 11 (1.8%) respectively, further emphasizing the market's fragmentation.

Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have no presence in Big Stone County, owning 0 properties and commanding 0.0% of the investor-owned market, directly contradicting narratives of institutional takeover in this geography.

Even the largest active tier, 'Large (101-1000 properties)', holds only 6 properties, representing a mere 1.0% of the total investor-owned portfolio, solidifying Big Stone County as a market for individual and small-scale investors.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the smaller tiers, holding 93.6% of single-property portfolios (471 properties) and 87.5% of two-property portfolios (35 properties).

A notable crossover point occurs at the small landlord (6-10 properties) tier, where company ownership surpasses individual ownership. Companies hold 8 properties (53.3%), while individuals own 7 properties (46.7%) in this tier.

Even in slightly larger portfolios like small-medium (11-20 properties), individual investors still retain a strong majority, owning 10 properties (90.9%) compared to companies' single property (9.1%).

This pattern indicates that while individuals are the primary owners of single-digit property portfolios, companies strategically concentrate their limited presence in mid-size portfolios (6-10 properties), rather than the largest institutional tiers where they show no activity.

Across all tiers, institutional companies (1000+ properties) maintain 0 ownership, consistent with the overall absence of institutional investors in the Big Stone County SFR market.

Within Big Stone County, the zip code MN-Big Stone-56278 leads in the sheer volume of investor-owned properties, with 259 SFR properties, demonstrating a key area of investor focus by count.

However, MN-Big Stone-56225 exhibits the highest investor ownership rate at 55.3%, indicating that over half of its SFR properties are investor-owned, making it the most penetrated market for landlords.

Other significant regions by investor count include MN-Big Stone-56225 with 147 properties and MN-Big Stone-56240 with 83 properties, showcasing distinct pockets of investor activity.

High investor ownership rates are also observed in MN-Big Stone-56211 (48.1%) and MN-Big Stone-56208 (42.9%), highlighting several zip codes where a substantial portion of the housing stock is dedicated to rental purposes.

A strong correlation exists between areas with high property counts and high ownership percentages, as zip codes like MN-Big Stone-56225, MN-Big Stone-56240, and MN-Big Stone-56211 appear prominently on both top lists, indicating concentrated and deep investor engagement.

Landlords in Big Stone County are consistently strong net buyers, acquiring 81 properties in 2025 while selling only 1, resulting in an aggressive 81x buy/sell ratio that indicates a significant accumulation of assets.

This aggressive net buying trend continues from 2024, when landlords bought 84 properties and sold 3, demonstrating a persistent strategy of portfolio expansion in the county.

Total transaction volume saw a slight decrease from 87 transactions (84 buys + 3 sells) in 2024 to 82 transactions (81 buys + 1 sell) in 2025, yet the relative buying intensity increased dramatically as selling activity nearly ceased.

Despite the overall market activity, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) showed no reported buy or sell transactions in either 2024 or 2025, emphasizing their complete non-participation in Big Stone County's real estate market.

The lack of any inter-landlord transaction data in this section suggests that landlords are primarily acquiring properties from non-landlord sellers, rather than trading among themselves.

Landlords were highly active in Big Stone County's Q4 2025 market, participating in 20 out of 32 total SFR transactions, representing a significant 62.5% share of all market activity.

The bulk of this activity came from mom-and-pop landlords, particularly single-property investors (Tier 01), who accounted for 18 transactions. This tier alone contributed 90.0% of all landlord transactions in the quarter.

Average purchase prices varied significantly across active tiers: Tier 01 buyers paid the highest at $182,278, while Tier 02 investors paid $110,000, and small-medium investors (Tier 05-08) paid a notably lower average of $10,000, though this was based on only one transaction.

Notably, there were no reported inter-landlord transactions in Q4 2025 for any tier, with 0.0% of properties bought from other landlords. This indicates that all landlord acquisitions were from non-landlord sellers during this period.

The strong transaction volume from Tier 01 investors in Q4 is consistent with their overall dominance in ownership, reinforcing their foundational role in the Big Stone County SFR market.