Franklin (OH) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Landlords collectively own 47,760 Single Family Residential (SFR) properties in Franklin County, OH, representing 16.1% of the total SFR market, underscoring their significant presence.

Individual investors are the dominant force, owning 30,665 properties, which constitutes 64.2% of all landlord-owned SFR. Companies, in contrast, own 17,632 properties, or 36.9%.

The individual landlord segment is characterized by very small-scale operations, with 38,951 individual landlord entities collectively owning 30,665 properties, averaging less than one property per entity (0.79).

A vast majority of landlord-owned properties, 46,568 (97.5%), are designated as rented, confirming the strong rental-focused nature of investor portfolios in the county.

Cash acquisitions remain a prominent strategy, with 26,451 (55.4%) of landlord-owned properties held outright, indicating a substantial level of unencumbered assets within investor portfolios.

Conversely, 21,309 (44.6%) of landlord properties are financed, suggesting a significant portion of the market relies on leverage to expand or maintain holdings.

The composition of the landlord market reveals that while individual landlords are more numerous (38,951 entities), company landlords (6,005 entities) manage a larger average portfolio size, with 2.94 properties per company compared to 0.79 properties per individual entity.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Franklin County, OH, acquired properties at a significant discount, paying an average of $350,884 — $40,125 less than traditional homeowners, who paid $391,009, representing a 10.3% price advantage.

The landlord-homeowner price gap fluctuated throughout 2025, with the discount narrowing to 5.8% ($24,557) in Q2, then widening considerably to 9.5% ($38,876) in Q3 and peaking at 10.3% ($40,125) in Q4, suggesting increased market efficiency for investors later in the year.

Landlord acquisition prices in Q4 2025 were $350,884, indicating a slight decrease from Q3's average of $370,792 and Q2's high of $395,228, aligning with the widening discount to homeowners.

Looking at the full year, landlord average acquisition prices for 2025 stood at $370,057, a notable increase from the $345,065 average in 2024, reflecting overall market appreciation.

Compared to the pandemic-era boom (2020-2023), where landlord acquisition prices averaged $227,890, current average prices have seen a substantial appreciation to $370,057 in 2025, an increase of over 62.4%.

The consistent ability of landlords to pay less than traditional homeowners suggests a strategic advantage in deal sourcing, negotiation, or purchasing distressed properties not typically available to owner-occupants.

The shift in the discount magnitude quarter-over-quarter indicates a dynamic market where investor buying power or market conditions for finding discounted properties improved significantly towards the end of 2025.

Landlords demonstrated significant market dominance in Q4 2025, acquiring 2,064 SFR properties, which represents 64.2% of the total 3,214 SFR purchases in Franklin County, OH.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) were overwhelmingly the most active buyers, accounting for 1,873 properties or 90.4% of all landlord purchases during Q4, solidifying their role as the primary drivers of investor activity.

The single-property landlord tier (Tier 01) alone dominated Q4 purchases, securing 1,638 properties (79.0% of landlord purchases) and involving 2,508 distinct entities, highlighting a robust entry point for new, small-scale investors.

Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) had a minimal presence in Q4 purchasing, acquiring only 19 properties, which constituted a mere 0.9% of total landlord purchases, a stark contrast to smaller investors.

The ratio of properties purchased per entity within Tier 01 for Q4 stands at 0.65 (1,638 properties by 2,508 entities), indicating that many new individual landlords are entering the market via co-ownership or acquiring fractional interests in properties, further emphasizing the granular nature of the market.

Mid-size landlords (Tiers 05-08) collectively acquired 181 properties, comprising 8.8% of Q4 landlord purchases, demonstrating moderate but consistent activity across this segment.

The high concentration of Q4 purchases in the mom-and-pop tiers indicates that market entry and expansion are primarily driven by small, individual investors, rather than large corporate entities, in Franklin County, OH.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04, 1-10 properties) collectively control 79.2% of the investor-owned SFR properties in Franklin County, OH, demonstrating their overwhelming dominance in the local rental market.

The single-property landlord tier (Tier 01) forms the backbone of the investor market, owning 28,701 properties, which accounts for a substantial 58.9% of all landlord-held SFR.

In stark contrast, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) hold only 3,995 properties, representing a modest 8.2% of the total investor-owned portfolio, challenging narratives of widespread institutional control in this market.

Mid-size landlords (Tiers 05-08, 11-1000 properties) together own 6,141 properties, making up 12.6% of the market, indicating a notable, albeit smaller, segment of professional investors.

The distribution shows a strong inverse relationship between portfolio size and property count, with smaller tiers holding significantly more properties than larger tiers, underscoring the fragmented nature of ownership.

Despite common perceptions, the vast majority of investor-owned housing in Franklin County, OH, is controlled by local, small-scale landlords, with the largest entities playing a comparatively minor role in total holdings.

While the data provides property distribution by tier, comprehensive acquisition pricing trends across all tiers and timeframes (All Time, Q4, 2024, 2020-2023) are not available in this specific section to fully evaluate price variations by investor size.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the smallest portfolio sizes in Franklin County, OH, owning 25,325 properties (87.1%) in the single-property tier and 2,711 properties (58.9%) in the 3-5 property tier.

The crossover point where companies become the majority owners occurs within the 6-10 property tier, where companies hold 1,656 properties (66.2%) compared to individuals at 844 properties (33.8%).

As portfolio size increases, company concentration escalates dramatically; in the largest tier (101-1000 properties), companies own virtually all properties (1,089 or 99.9%), while individual ownership is negligible (1 property or 0.1%).

This distinct shift highlights that while individuals are the primary entry point for new investors, companies are the dominant players in scaling up and managing larger, more professional portfolios.

Even in mid-sized portfolios (11-20 and 21-50 properties), companies maintain a substantial majority, holding 79.4% and 83.4% respectively, confirming their strategic focus on larger asset aggregation.

The prevalence of individuals in smaller tiers suggests that a significant portion of the rental market is managed by local, often part-time, landlords.

While this section clearly delineates ownership by type across tiers, specific acquisition pricing differences between individual and company buyers within each tier are not provided in the available data.

Within Franklin County, OH, the zip code 43207 leads in absolute volume with 3,191 investor-owned SFR properties, representing a 22.7% landlord ownership rate.

Following closely, zip code 43211 demonstrates a high concentration of investor activity, holding 3,137 landlord-owned properties and exhibiting a significant 41.1% investor ownership rate.

Zip code 43204 also shows substantial investor presence, with 2,669 landlord-owned properties and a 24.1% ownership rate, ranking third by property count among the analyzed sub-geographies.

Notably, zip codes such as 44057 and 43002 report 100.0% investor ownership, though without corresponding property counts, these may represent highly specialized or very small geographic pockets, or potential data artifacts.

The concentration of investor-owned properties in specific zip codes (43207, 43211, 43204) highlights key sub-markets within Franklin County that are particularly attractive to real estate investors.

While the data pinpoints areas of high investor presence by count and percentage, detailed acquisition price variations across these specific zip code regions are not available in the provided dataset.

The contrast between high-count areas like 43207 and high-percentage areas like 43211 suggests different market dynamics, where some areas have a large total SFR market with significant investor penetration, while others might be smaller markets almost entirely investor-controlled.

Landlords in Franklin County, OH, are significant net buyers, demonstrating robust accumulation activity with 2,998 buy transactions against only 356 sell transactions in Q4 2025, resulting in a net gain of 2,642 properties.

This aggressive buying trend is consistent throughout 2025, with landlords executing 13,455 buy transactions compared to 1,779 sell transactions year-to-date, signaling a persistent expansion of their portfolios.

In stark contrast to the overall landlord market, institutional investors (1000+ properties) were net sellers in Q4 2025, divesting 46 properties while only acquiring 23, resulting in a net reduction of 23 properties.

The institutional divestment trend extends across the entire Year 2025, where these large investors performed 155 buy transactions against 168 sell transactions, indicating a strategic retreat or portfolio rebalancing.

Comparing year-over-year, total landlord buy transactions for 2025 (13,455) show a significant increase from 2024 (9,632), demonstrating accelerated acquisition activity in the current year.

Conversely, institutional investors, who were net buyers in 2024 (712 buys vs 582 sells), shifted to a net seller position in 2025, illustrating a notable change in their market strategy.

While the data confirms strong net buying for all landlords and net selling for institutional investors, specific average buy and sell prices are not provided in this section to analyze implied profit margins on transactions.

Landlords were central to the Q4 2025 SFR market in Franklin County, OH, accounting for 2,998 transactions, which represents a substantial 63.1% share of the total 4,753 transactions.

The single-property landlord tier (Tier 01) dominated transaction volume, engaging in 2,518 transactions, dwarfing all other tiers and underscoring the high activity level of new and small-scale investors.

A notable pricing differential exists across investor tiers, with single-property landlords (Tier 01) paying the highest average price at $369,578, while institutional investors (Tier 09) secured properties at a significantly lower average of $253,252.

Institutional investors effectively paid 31.5% less per property than single-property landlords in Q4 2025, highlighting their leverage or strategic advantage in sourcing more affordable assets.

Inter-landlord trading activity varied significantly by tier; institutional investors (Tier 09) bought 39.1% of their properties from other landlords, a much higher proportion compared to single-property landlords (Tier 01) who sourced only 9.5% of their purchases from other investors.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) collectively engaged in 2,771 transactions in Q4, reaffirming their role as the primary transaction drivers, far surpassing the 23 transactions by institutional investors.

The disparity in average purchase prices suggests that larger, more sophisticated investors pursue different property profiles or leverage greater negotiation power than individual, first-time buyers in the Franklin County, OH, market.