Fillmore (MN) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Landlords in Fillmore County, MN, collectively own 920 SFR properties, making up 11.0% of the total SFR market. This establishes a notable investor presence within the county's housing landscape.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the market, holding 742 properties, which accounts for 80.7% of all landlord-owned SFR. Companies, in contrast, own 185 properties, representing a smaller 20.1% share.

The rental market is highly active among these investors, with 889 properties (96.6% of the investor-owned portfolio) currently being rented. This highlights a strong focus on generating rental income from their holdings.

Cash acquisitions are the prevailing method for property ownership among landlords, with 752 properties (81.7% of the portfolio) having been purchased outright. Only 168 properties (18.3%) are currently financed.

By entity count, individual landlords significantly outnumber company landlords, with 930 individual entities compared to 164 company entities. This results in a ratio of 5.67 individual landlords for every company landlord, underscoring the prevalence of smaller, individual operations.

The data clearly indicates a mom-and-pop-driven investment market in Fillmore County, where individual owners are the primary force behind SFR rental supply and property acquisition strategies, largely favoring cash transactions.

Landlord acquisition prices in Fillmore County, MN, showed significant volatility against traditional homeowner prices in 2025. In Q4, landlords paid an average of $473,611, a substantial $187,183 (65.4%) premium compared to homeowners' average of $286,428.

This Q4 premium marks a drastic shift from earlier quarters. In Q3, landlords secured a $56,238 discount, paying $207,120 against homeowners' $263,358 (a 21.4% discount).

The price discrepancy also saw landlords pay a $163,995 (57.0%) premium in Q2, with an average price of $451,680 versus homeowner prices of $287,685. However, in Q1, landlords received a $116,287 (52.8%) discount, purchasing at $103,800 against homeowners' $220,087.

This quarter-over-quarter price gap fluctuation (from a deep discount to a significant premium) suggests highly localized or specific market dynamics, indicating that landlord purchasing strategies or available inventory varied dramatically throughout the year.

The lack of historical acquisition property counts for landlords prevents a definitive trend analysis for longer timeframes, but the immediate quarterly data showcases an unpredictable pricing environment for investors in Fillmore County.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Fillmore County, MN, made 11 SFR purchases, representing 10.7% of the total 103 SFR properties bought in the market. This indicates a consistent, albeit modest, level of investor engagement within the county's housing activity.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) were exclusively responsible for all landlord acquisitions in Q4, totaling 11 properties (100.0% of landlord purchases). This highlights their continued dominance in the local investment landscape.

The single-property landlord tier (Tier 01) was the most active, acquiring 9 properties, which accounts for 81.8% of all landlord purchases in Q4. These acquisitions were made by 13 distinct entities, signaling a strong influx of new or very small-scale investors.

The remaining Q4 landlord purchases were split between two-property landlords (Tier 02) and small landlords (Tier 03-05), each acquiring 1 property (9.1% respectively). This further reinforces the prevalence of smaller portfolio growth.

Notably, institutional investors (Tier 09) registered 0 purchases in Q4, indicating a complete absence of large-scale corporate buying activity in Fillmore County for the current quarter.

The concentration of Q4 buying activity among new and small landlords suggests that local individuals continue to drive the expansion of the rental housing supply in the county, rather than larger entities.

The distribution of investor-owned SFR properties in Fillmore County, MN, reveals an overwhelming dominance by mom-and-pop landlords, who collectively control 99.4% of the market across Tiers 01-04.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) form the backbone of this market, owning 733 properties, which accounts for a substantial 76.8% of all landlord-owned SFR. This highlights the vast majority of investors are individuals with a single rental property.

The next largest segments are small landlords (Tier 03-05) with 116 properties (12.2%), and two-property landlords (Tier 02) with 73 properties (7.7%). Even small landlords (Tier 06-10) contribute 26 properties (2.7%).

In stark contrast, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) hold a minimal footprint, owning just 1 property, representing a mere 0.1% of the total investor-owned SFR in the county. Large-scale investors (Tier 101-1000) also hold only 1 property.

This extreme concentration in smaller tiers, particularly Tier 01, signals that the SFR rental market in Fillmore County is almost entirely composed of local, small-scale landlords rather than large corporate entities.

The current Q4 purchasing activity, entirely dominated by mom-and-pop landlords, reinforces this long-term ownership pattern, suggesting a consistent market structure without a shift towards larger investor types.

Individual ownership strongly dominates the smaller tiers of the landlord market in Fillmore County, MN. Single-property portfolios (Tier 01) are 83.1% individually owned (614 properties), with companies holding 16.9% (125 properties).

Similarly, two-property portfolios (Tier 02) show 83.6% individual ownership (61 properties) against 16.4% company ownership (12 properties). Even in the 3-5 property tier, individuals maintain a clear majority at 75.9% (88 properties) compared to companies at 24.1% (28 properties).

A notable crossover point occurs within the small landlord tier (6-10 properties), where company ownership surpasses individual holdings. Companies own 14 properties (53.8%) in this tier, while individuals own 12 properties (46.2%).

This indicates that while individual investors are the foundation of the rental market, companies begin to play a more prominent, albeit still minority, role as portfolios expand even slightly, shifting to majority control for portfolios over 5 properties.

The available data does not provide a breakdown of owner type for larger portfolio tiers (11+ properties), but the identified crossover point is significant for understanding the evolution of ownership structures within the mom-and-pop segments.

The pattern suggests that as individual landlords grow their portfolios, they might transition to or form company structures, or that company entities primarily target the slightly larger, yet still small-scale, investment opportunities.

Investor activity in Fillmore County, MN, shows distinct geographic concentrations at the zip code level. The zip code MN-Fillmore-55949 leads in sheer volume, with 140 investor-owned properties, representing a significant 16.4% of its SFR market.

Following closely in property count are MN-Fillmore-55965 with 115 properties (11.8% investor-owned) and MN-Fillmore-55939 with 107 properties (12.8% investor-owned). These regions represent the highest absolute numbers of investor-held residences.

When examining investor ownership rates, MN-Fillmore-55961 stands out with the highest percentage, where 17.9% of all SFR properties are investor-owned. This indicates a high market penetration by landlords in this particular area.

A strong correlation exists between high property counts and high ownership rates, as MN-Fillmore-55949, MN-Fillmore-55954 (12.9% rate, 78 properties), and MN-Fillmore-55939 appear in both the top 5 lists. This indicates certain zip codes are prime targets for investors, attracting both volume and saturation.

However, some regions like MN-Fillmore-55961 (17.9%) and MN-Fillmore-55962 (15.5%) rank high in percentage but not in absolute property count, suggesting smaller housing markets where investors hold a larger proportional share.

This localized pattern of investor activity implies that specific areas within Fillmore County are perceived as more attractive or accessible for rental property investment, leading to higher concentrations and ownership rates.

Landlords in Fillmore County, MN, have consistently acted as net buyers of SFR properties across all recorded timeframes, indicating a sustained strategy of portfolio expansion. In Q4 2025, they purchased 15 properties while selling 7, resulting in a 2.14x buy/sell ratio and a net gain of 8 properties.

This net buying trend is robust historically; for the full year 2025, landlords bought 54 properties and sold 18, achieving a 3.00x buy/sell ratio. In 2024, their buying activity was even more pronounced, with 63 purchases against just 10 sales, translating to a substantial 6.30x buy/sell ratio.

The consistent net positive acquisition suggests a favorable market for landlords in Fillmore County, where they are actively accumulating assets rather than divesting. This stands in contrast to common narratives of investor retreat in some markets.

In contrast, institutional investors (1000+ tier) showed minimal and balanced transaction activity. For the entire Year 2025, they recorded only 1 buy and 1 sell, resulting in a net neutral position.

This stark difference in transactional behavior further underscores that the Fillmore County real estate investment market is primarily driven by smaller, individual landlords, with institutional players holding a negligible role in property turnover.

The lack of data on average buy and sell prices for these historical transactions prevents an analysis of implied profit margins or strategic pricing trends over time.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Fillmore County, MN, participated in 15 transactions, constituting 8.7% of the total 173 SFR transactions observed in the market. This indicates a modest but active presence in the quarter's real estate exchanges.

All 15 landlord transactions were executed by mom-and-pop investor tiers (01-04), reinforcing their market dominance. Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were particularly active, responsible for 13 of these transactions, signifying ongoing entry and growth at the smallest scale.

A notable finding is the complete absence of inter-landlord trading in Q4; 0.0% of transactions for the active tiers were reported as bought from other landlords. This suggests that landlords primarily acquire properties from traditional homeowners or other non-landlord sellers.

Average purchase prices in Q4 varied dramatically across the active mom-and-pop tiers. Tier 01 landlords paid an average of $454,166, while Tier 02 landlords faced a significantly higher average price of $1,050,000, and Tier 03-05 landlords paid $150,000.

The wide price disparity across these small tiers (a spread of $900,000 between Tier 02 and Tier 3-5) could indicate highly specific, perhaps unique, properties being transacted, or reflect a small sample size causing price volatility.

Institutional investors (Tier 09) recorded 0 transactions in Q4, reaffirming their minimal direct involvement in the county's real estate market activity for this period.