McHenry (ND) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

The investor landscape in McHenry County is overwhelmingly dominated by individual landlords, who own 334 of the 346 investor-held SFRs, a commanding 96.5% share. This leaves a minimal footprint for companies, which hold just 22 properties (6.4%).

This individual dominance is further reflected in the entity count, where 480 of the 501 total landlords are individuals (95.8%). This highlights a market structure built on small-scale, local investment rather than corporate ownership.

A strong sign of financial stability in the local rental market is the high prevalence of cash ownership. Investors own 253 properties outright, more than 2.7 times the 93 properties that are financed.

The portfolio is almost entirely dedicated to rentals, with 343 of the 346 properties being non-owner-occupied. This 99.1% rental rate underscores that the primary strategy for investors in this county is providing rental housing.

Overall, landlords own a significant portion of the local housing stock, controlling 25.1% of the 1,380 total SFR properties in the market.

In Q4 2025, landlords demonstrated remarkable purchasing power, acquiring properties for an average price of $121,587. This represents a staggering 43.3% discount compared to the $214,294 average paid by traditional homeowners, saving investors an average of $92,707 per property.

The price advantage for landlords has not been static; it has expanded significantly throughout the year. The discount widened from a modest 9.9% ($25,952) in Q1 to 13.2% in Q2, 24.7% in Q3, and culminated in the 43.3% gap in Q4, signaling a growing ability for investors to find undervalued assets.

Pandemic-era (2020-2023) acquisitions averaged $160,710, suggesting that recent Q4 purchases are being made at prices well below historical norms, though transaction volume is low.

The data indicates a cooling trend in prices for all buyers from the beginning of the year, with landlord acquisition prices falling from a high of $235,715 in Q1 2025 to $121,587 in Q4 2025.

Investor activity surged in Q4 2025, with landlords acquiring 11 of the 19 total SFRs sold in McHenry County, capturing a majority market share of 57.9%.

The entirety of this purchasing activity was driven by small investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties) accounted for 100.0% of all investor acquisitions, highlighting the absence of larger players in the market.

The most active segment was new entrants and single-property owners (Tier 01), who purchased 8 properties, making up 72.7% of all landlord acquisitions for the quarter.

This quarter saw an influx of new investors, with 11 new entities purchasing their first rental property. This signals healthy growth at the smallest end of the investor spectrum.

In stark contrast, institutional investors (1,000+ properties) had no presence, acquiring 0 properties and holding 0.0% of the Q4 purchase volume.

The ownership structure in McHenry County is unequivocally dominated by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords, who own between 1 and 10 properties, control 344 of the 346 investor-owned SFRs, a near-total market share of 99.4%.

First-time and single-property landlords are the bedrock of the rental market, with this tier alone accounting for 330 properties, or 94.0% of all investor-owned housing.

Mid-size landlords (11-1,000 properties) have a negligible presence, with only one landlord in the 101-1,000 property tier owning 2 properties (0.6%).

Institutional investors (Tier 09) have absolutely no footprint in McHenry County, holding 0.0% of the investor-owned properties. This market completely defies the narrative of large corporate ownership.

The data shows extreme concentration at the lowest end of the investor spectrum, indicating a market composed almost entirely of local individuals rather than large-scale or out-of-state investment firms.

Individual investors overwhelmingly control every segment of the McHenry County market, regardless of portfolio size. Unlike other markets, there is no crossover tier where companies become the majority owners; individuals hold the majority in all tiers where both types are present.

The dominance is most pronounced among single-property owners, where individuals own 324 properties (95.3%) compared to just 16 owned by companies (4.7%).

This pattern continues into the two-property tier, with individuals owning 13 homes (81.2%) versus 3 for companies (18.8%).

In the small landlord tier (3-5 properties), ownership is exclusively individual, with companies having no presence at all.

This data reveals a market where corporate investment is minimal and exists only at the smallest scales, reinforcing the local, individual-driven nature of the rental landscape.

Investor activity in McHenry County is geographically focused, with the zip code 58790 emerging as the primary hub, containing 124 investor-owned properties.

The 58736 zip code is another key area for investors, with 40 properties and a high landlord ownership rate of 29.2%.

While not the largest by count, the 58384 zip code shows the deepest market penetration, where landlords own 50.0% of the SFR housing stock, indicating a highly targeted investment strategy in that community.

The data also reveals a significant concentration in 58790, which not only has the highest count of investor properties but also a high ownership rate of 32.6%.

Several zip codes, including 58723 and 58748, had insufficient data to calculate rates, but the available information points to specific communities being the focus of landlord acquisitions.

Landlords in McHenry County are in a clear accumulation phase, consistently buying far more properties than they sell. In Q4 2025, they purchased 14 SFRs while selling only 2, resulting in a strong 7.0x buy-to-sell ratio and a net gain of 12 properties.

This trend of aggressive net buying is not new. Across the full Year 2025, investors bought 42 properties and sold only 4, a ratio of 10.5 to 1, demonstrating sustained confidence in the local market.

The pattern holds true for the prior year as well. In 2024, landlords purchased 32 properties and sold just 3, for a net gain of 29 homes and a buy/sell ratio of over 10 to 1.

The data shows no transaction activity from institutional investors (1,000+ properties) in any recorded timeframe, indicating all buying and selling is being conducted by smaller, local landlords.

This consistent, high-volume net buying across multiple years signals a long-term strategy of portfolio growth among McHenry County's investor base.

Landlords played a central role in the Q4 2025 market, participating in 14 of the 30 total SFR transactions, which translates to a significant 46.7% share of all activity.

All 14 of these transactions were conducted by mom-and-pop investors (Tiers 01-04), with 11 transactions coming from the single-property tier alone. This highlights that market liquidity is driven exclusively by small investors.

An interesting pattern of consolidation is emerging among slightly larger landlords. Investors in the two-property tier sourced 66.7% of their acquisitions (2 of 3) from other landlords, suggesting strategic purchasing within the existing investor community.

In contrast, new and single-property landlords did not acquire any properties from other investors (0.0%), focusing instead on purchasing from homeowners or new construction.

The average purchase price for the most active segment, single-property landlords, was $121,587 in Q4, establishing the benchmark price point for new market entrants.