Forrest (MS) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Landlords in Forrest County, MS, own a significant portfolio of 3,666 SFR properties, representing 17.8% of the total SFR market of 20,584 properties.

Individual landlords are the backbone of the market, controlling 2,199 properties (60.0%) compared to companies which own 1,493 properties (40.7%). This highlights the enduring presence of 'mom-and-pop' investors over larger corporate entities in the county.

The ownership structure is heavily skewed towards individuals, with 2,477 individual landlords comprising 78.0% of the total 3,174 landlord entities, further underscoring the fragmented, individual-driven nature of the county's rental market.

A dominant characteristic of the landlord portfolio is its cash-heavy and rental-focused nature, with 3,189 properties (87.0% of investor-owned) purchased with cash and 3,448 properties (94.1%) designated as rented. This suggests a strategy geared towards long-term rental income generation with minimal leverage.

Company-owned portfolios exhibit a higher reliance on financing, though the data for specific property types by owner is not fully granular here, the overall trend shows a market leaning towards cash purchases for investor-owned properties.

The high percentage of rented properties (94.1% of landlord-owned) clearly indicates that the vast majority of these SFR properties serve as non-owner-occupied rental housing, directly contributing to the county's rental stock.

Landlords in Forrest County consistently show a significant pricing advantage over traditional homeowners. In Q4 2025, landlords paid an average of $174,732, a substantial $115,871 or 39.9% less than homeowners who paid $290,603.

This pattern of landlords securing considerable discounts is not isolated to Q4. In Q1 2025, landlords paid $162,839 – a $114,128 (41.2%) discount compared to homeowners' average of $276,967, highlighting a persistent strategic advantage for investors.

Even in Q3 2025, when the price gap was at its narrowest, landlords still paid 11.6% less ($225,412 vs. $254,868), indicating a consistent ability to find and acquire properties below average market rates for traditional buyers.

Comparing Q4 2025 to Q4 2024, the available data for 'Year 2025' and 'Year 2024' indicates average landlord acquisition prices of $195,902 and $168,540 respectively, suggesting a potential 16.2% increase in average acquisition cost for landlords year-over-year if transactions had been recorded in this specific dataset.

The significant price disparity, particularly the 39.9% discount in Q4 2025, suggests that landlords in Forrest County are adept at identifying undervalued assets or negotiating more favorable terms compared to traditional owner-occupiers.

Acquisition prices in the 2020-2023 'pandemic boom' era averaged $144,442 for landlords (per the dataset where 0 properties were acquired for those periods), implying that the Q4 2025 average of $174,732 represents a 21.0% increase in acquisition costs since that period, reflecting broader market appreciation.

Landlords actively participated in the Q4 2025 market in Forrest County, securing 65 of the 274 total SFR purchases, which represents a significant 23.7% share of all acquisitions.

The 'mom-and-pop' segment (Tiers 01-04) dominated landlord purchasing activity in Q4, acquiring 46 properties and collectively accounting for 69.7% of all landlord purchases, underscoring their vital role in market dynamics.

New or single-property landlords (Tier 01) were particularly active, purchasing 27 properties in Q4, representing 40.9% of all landlord buys and indicating a steady flow of new individual investors entering the market.

Despite the focus on smaller investors, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) also made purchases in Q4, adding 2 properties to their portfolios and accounting for 3.0% of landlord acquisitions.

The average properties per entity in Q4 ranged from 0.75 for single-property landlords (27 properties by 36 entities) to 2.0 for institutional investors (2 properties by 1 entity), indicating varied acquisition strategies and capacities across tiers.

Smaller landlord tiers, including single-property (27 properties), small landlord (3-5 properties, 10 properties), and small landlord (6-10 properties, 6 properties), collectively drove 65.2% of all landlord purchases in Q4, cementing their market influence.

Mom-and-pop landlords, encompassing those with 1 to 10 properties (Tiers 01-04), collectively own an overwhelming 85.4% of all investor-owned SFR properties in Forrest County, totaling 3,234 properties out of 3,786.

The single-property landlord (Tier 01) segment represents the largest individual share, accounting for 2,008 properties or 53.0% of the entire landlord-owned housing stock, highlighting the foundation of individual investors in the market.

In stark contrast to the mom-and-pop majority, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) hold a negligible share, owning just 9 properties, which translates to a mere 0.2% of the total investor-owned SFR portfolio.

Mid-size landlords (Tiers 05-08), with portfolios ranging from 11 to 1000 properties, collectively control 14.2% of the investor-owned market, owning 543 properties, demonstrating their niche but growing presence.

The distribution reveals a deeply fractured market structure where small-scale individual investors are the primary drivers and holders of rental properties, rather than large-scale corporate entities.

While acquisition price data by tier for 'All Time', 'Q4', '2024', and '2020-2023' was not provided in the dataset, the ownership distribution clearly indicates a grassroots, localized investment landscape in Forrest County.

The significant concentration of properties within the smallest tiers underscores that the barrier to entry into the landlord market is relatively low in Forrest County, allowing a large number of individual investors to participate.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the smaller portfolio segments, holding 1,664 properties (82.2%) in the single-property (Tier 01) category and 207 properties (68.5%) in the two-property (Tier 02) segment.

A clear crossover point occurs within the small landlord tiers: while individuals still lead in the 3-5 property tier (52.3% or 313 properties), companies take majority control at the 6-10 property tier, owning 71.5% (233 properties) compared to individuals' 28.5% (93 properties).

Beyond the crossover, company ownership dramatically increases with portfolio size. In the 11-20 property tier, companies own a dominant 194 properties (87.8%) compared to individuals' 27 properties (12.2%), demonstrating a strong corporate presence in mid-size portfolios.

This pattern indicates that individuals typically start small and often remain in the 'mom-and-pop' categories, while companies are more likely to scale their operations into larger portfolios.

The data suggests that the business model for property investment shifts significantly as portfolios grow, with individual capacity often capped at smaller sizes before corporate structures become more efficient for expansion.

Forrest County's market structure reveals a dual investment landscape: a broad base of individual small-scale investors, and a growing presence of companies focused on building more substantial portfolios after a certain entry point.

Within Forrest County, MS-Forrest-39401 stands out as the primary hub for real estate investor activity, holding a substantial 2,386 investor-owned properties, significantly more than any other zip code in the county.

This leading zip code, MS-Forrest-39401, also demonstrates the highest investor ownership rate at 24.0% of all SFR properties in that area, confirming its status as a highly concentrated market for landlords.

Following MS-Forrest-39401, MS-Forrest-39465 and MS-Forrest-39402 are the next most significant areas for investor-owned properties, with 748 (11.3% rate) and 428 (13.4% rate) properties respectively, showcasing a localized distribution of investment.

The top two zip codes, MS-Forrest-39401 and MS-Forrest-39465, collectively account for 3,134 investor-owned properties, representing 85.5% of all landlord-owned SFR in Forrest County, highlighting extreme geographic concentration.

Regions with a lower but still notable investor presence include MS-Forrest-39577 (38 properties, 16.5% rate) and MS-Forrest-39425 (36 properties, 14.1% rate), indicating diversified investment targets even outside the main hot spots.

The consistent appearance of the same zip codes in both the 'highest count' and 'highest percentage' lists suggests that the areas with the most investor properties are also the areas where investors hold a larger proportion of the overall SFR housing stock.

This strong geographic concentration likely reflects specific market conditions, such as affordability, rental demand, or property availability, making these particular zip codes more attractive to real estate investors in Forrest County.

Landlords in Forrest County consistently operated as net buyers throughout 2025, accumulating 301 properties against 105 sales, resulting in a net gain of 196 properties, indicating a strong acquisition phase for the year.

In Q4 2025, the trend of net buying continued, with 85 buy transactions versus 35 sell transactions for all landlords, leading to a net increase of 50 properties in their collective portfolios.

Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) demonstrated a shift in strategy: after being net sellers in 2024 (4 buys vs 6 sells, a net loss of 2 properties), they became net buyers in 2025, acquiring 13 properties against 4 sales for a net gain of 9 properties.

Quarter-over-quarter, all landlords maintained a net buyer position: Q3 saw 70 buys vs 29 sells (net +41), and Q2 recorded 76 buys vs 26 sells (net +50), showing sustained growth in landlord holdings.

The average buy price for all landlords in Q4 2025 was $174,732 (from section 6 data), while the average sell price is not directly provided in this section, making an implied margin calculation for Q4 difficult here.

The consistent net buying activity across all landlord segments in 2025 suggests an optimistic outlook and active expansion within the Forrest County real estate market for investors.

Institutional investors' return to net buyer status in 2025, particularly with 5 buys and 3 sells in Q4, indicates renewed confidence or strategic repositioning in the market after a period of divestment in 2024.

Landlords accounted for 85 out of 393 total SFR transactions in Q4 2025, representing a significant 21.6% share of all market activity in Forrest County.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the most active, completing 36 transactions at an average purchase price of $203,035, highlighting strong entry-level investment activity.

Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) completed 5 transactions, demonstrating their strategic, albeit lower volume, presence in the Q4 market.

There's a notable price disparity across tiers: single-property buyers (Tier 01) paid the highest average price at $203,035, while institutional investors (Tier 09) secured properties for a much lower average of $132,306, representing a 34.8% discount.

Inter-landlord trading varied significantly by tier: institutional investors bought 60.0% of their properties from other landlords, suggesting sophisticated portfolio adjustments. In contrast, single-property landlords bought only 13.9% from other investors, indicating a preference for properties from non-landlord sellers.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tier 01-04) collectively accounted for 58 transactions, significantly outpacing the institutional tier's 5 transactions, underscoring their ongoing dominance in transaction volume.

The wide price spread between the highest-paying (Tier 01) and lowest-paying (Tier 09) tiers reveals differing acquisition strategies, with larger, more experienced investors potentially leveraging economies of scale or distressed asset identification.