Colfax (NE) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Landlords in Colfax County collectively own 694 SFR properties, comprising a significant 28.2% of the total SFR market of 2,457 properties. This establishes a substantial investor presence within the county's housing landscape.

Individual landlords profoundly dominate the Colfax County market, holding 615 properties, which represents 88.6% of the total investor-owned SFR portfolio. In stark contrast, companies own only 85 properties, making up 12.2% of the portfolio, challenging narratives of corporate landlord dominance.

The prevalence of individual landlords is further highlighted by entity counts, with 789 individual landlords versus just 63 company landlords. This indicates that 92.6% of all landlords in the county are individuals, reinforcing the market's mom-and-pop character.

The portfolio is overwhelmingly rental-focused, as 682 of the 694 investor-owned properties are rented, equating to a high 98.3% non-owner-occupied rate. This confirms landlords' primary objective is generating rental income rather than owner-occupancy.

A strong preference for cash transactions is evident among landlords, with 501 properties (72.2%) acquired via cash. This far surpasses the 193 properties (27.8%) that are financed, suggesting a robust capital base or risk-averse investment strategy.

Landlord acquisition prices in Colfax County exhibited extreme volatility over recent quarters. In 2025-Q4, landlords paid an average of $207,667, which was a 28.1% premium—or $45,604 higher—compared to the average homeowner price of $162,063.

This Q4 premium starkly reverses the trend from the prior quarter. In 2025-Q3, landlords acquired properties at an average of $53,000, representing an extraordinary 79.7% discount of $207,880 against the homeowner average of $260,880.

Further back, in 2025-Q2, landlords paid an average of $236,400, a 10.8% premium of $22,988 compared to homeowners' $213,412. These dramatic swings, from significant premium to deep discount and back to premium, indicate a market heavily influenced by a low volume of unique transactions.

The data shows 0 distinct landlord properties purchased in Q4, Q3, and Q2 2025 for broader acquisition trends, yet specific average prices are provided for landlord versus homeowner comparisons. This implies that while overall activity for tracking properties by timeframe may be low, the specific transactions that occurred did manifest these average price points for landlords.

Looking at the broader historical context, the average acquisition price for years 2020-2023 was $132,431, though no distinct properties were recorded under landlord acquisition for this period in the data, limiting direct comparison but providing a pre-2025 price benchmark for the county.

Landlords in Colfax County accounted for 13.3% of all SFR purchases in 2025-Q4, acquiring 4 out of 30 total properties. This indicates a measured but consistent landlord presence in the quarterly buying landscape.

New single-property landlords (Tier 01) were particularly active, with 4 entities making 2 purchases, representing 50.0% of all landlord acquisitions for the quarter. This highlights the ongoing entry of new, small-scale investors into the market.

Mid-size landlords (Tier 11-20) matched the activity of single-property investors, also acquiring 2 properties, which constituted the remaining 50.0% of landlord purchases. This suggests a balanced activity between the smallest and mid-tier investors.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) collectively contributed 2 properties, or 50.0% of all landlord purchases, underscoring their continued role in market participation. No institutional investors (Tier 09) made any purchases during Q4.

The Q4 purchasing landscape in Colfax County is characterized by smaller investors, with a complete absence of activity from large institutional entities, reinforcing the local nature of the investor market.

The investor-owned SFR market in Colfax County is overwhelmingly dominated by mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04), who collectively control 96.7% of all investor-owned properties. This highlights the localized and accessible nature of the rental market.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) form the backbone of this market, owning 566 properties and representing a massive 78.8% of the total investor-owned portfolio. This signifies that first-time and small-scale investors are the primary drivers of rental housing supply.

No institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) hold any properties in Colfax County, with their market share at 0.0%. This firmly refutes any notion of 'Wall Street' influence in this specific geographic market.

The distribution shows a steep drop-off after single-property landlords; two-property landlords (Tier 02) hold 7.2% (52 properties), followed by 3-5 property landlords (Tier 03) at 6.3% (45 properties), and 6-10 property landlords (Tier 04) at 4.3% (31 properties).

Even the larger small-to-medium landlords (Tier 11-20) represent a small fraction, holding only 3.2% (23 properties), and those with 21-50 properties own just a single property (0.1%), further illustrating the market's concentration among smaller portfolio sizes.

Individual investors exhibit overwhelming dominance in the smaller tiers of Colfax County's real estate market. In the single-property tier (Tier 01), individuals own 524 properties, accounting for 91.8% of holdings, compared to companies which own 47 properties (8.2%).

This individual majority continues across subsequent smaller tiers: in the two-property tier (Tier 02), individuals own 43 properties (82.7%), and in the 3-5 property tier (Tier 03), they hold 36 properties (80.0%).

The significant shift in ownership type occurs at the 11-20 property tier, where companies become the majority owners. Here, companies hold 13 properties (56.5%), surpassing individual investors who own 10 properties (43.5%). This marks the critical crossover point where corporate influence becomes more pronounced within specific portfolio sizes.

Even in the 6-10 property tier (Tier 04), individual investors maintain a strong majority, owning 24 properties (77.4%) compared to companies' 7 properties (22.6%), reinforcing their presence across small-to-mid-size portfolios.

This distribution pattern reveals that while individual landlords are the foundational element of the Colfax County market, companies begin to concentrate their holdings in slightly larger, albeit still mid-size, portfolios, demonstrating different scaling strategies between owner types.

Colfax County exhibits clear geographic concentrations of investor-owned properties at the zip code level. NE-Colfax-68661 leads by count with 326 investor-owned properties, indicating it is the largest market for landlord activity within the county.

However, the highest investor ownership rate is found in NE-Colfax-68643, where a substantial 61.4% of all SFR properties are investor-owned. This zip code, along with NE-Colfax-68629 (51.0% investor-owned), represents areas with exceptionally high landlord penetration.

The top five zip codes by property count – NE-Colfax-68661 (326), NE-Colfax-68629 (152), NE-Colfax-68643 (124), NE-Colfax-68641 (72), and NE-Colfax-68601 (12) – collectively account for 686 investor-owned properties, demonstrating that the vast majority of investor holdings are clustered in specific local areas.

There's a significant overlap between zip codes with high property counts and those with high ownership percentages. NE-Colfax-68643 and NE-Colfax-68629 appear in both top 5 lists, signifying these areas are both popular for investors and have a high proportion of their housing stock owned by landlords.

Conversely, NE-Colfax-68661, while having the highest count, has a comparatively lower ownership rate of 19.9%, suggesting a larger overall SFR market where investors hold a significant but not dominant share. This contrasts with zip codes like 68643 where investors hold the majority.

Landlords in Colfax County have consistently maintained a strong net buyer position across all reported timeframes, indicating sustained accumulation of SFR properties. In Q4 2025, landlords bought 6 properties while selling only 1, resulting in a substantial 6.0x buy/sell ratio.

This trend of aggressive buying relative to selling is not new; throughout the entire year of 2025, landlords purchased 12 properties and sold just 1, translating to an impressive 12.0x buy/sell ratio. This signals a market where landlords are actively expanding their portfolios.

The year 2024 saw an even more pronounced net buyer status, with landlords acquiring 59 properties and selling only 1. This equates to an extraordinary 59.0x buy/sell ratio, highlighting an enduring pattern of growth and minimal divestment among landlords in the county.

The near absence of selling activity from landlords suggests a strong hold strategy, likely driven by stable rental income or long-term appreciation expectations within Colfax County. The limited sales indicate low market liquidity from the landlord side.

Importantly, there were no recorded transactions for institutional investors (1000+ tier) across any of these timeframes, further solidifying the narrative of Colfax County as a market primarily driven by smaller-scale, individual investors rather than large corporate entities.

Landlords in Colfax County were involved in 13.3% of all Q4 2025 SFR transactions, participating in 6 out of 45 total recorded transactions. This indicates a selective but active role in the quarterly market dynamics.

The Q4 landlord transaction activity was exclusively driven by smaller investors. Single-property landlords (Tier 01) completed 4 transactions, while small-medium landlords (Tier 11-20) accounted for 2 transactions. There was no activity from institutional investors (Tier 09).

A notable pricing disparity emerged among these active tiers: single-property landlords paid an average of $270,000 per transaction. In contrast, small-medium landlords (Tier 11-20) acquired properties at a considerably lower average price of $83,000, suggesting differing investment strategies or property types targeted.

No landlord transactions in Q4 involved buying from other landlords, with 0.0% of purchases sourced from the investor community. This indicates that landlords are primarily acquiring properties from traditional homeowners or other non-investor sellers, rather than engaging in inter-landlord trading.

The total of 4 mom-and-pop (Tier 01-04) transactions underscores the continued foundational role of small investors in shaping the local market, while the absence of institutional presence ensures that these smaller players define the transaction landscape.