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

Individual landlords are the backbone of Holmes County's SFR rental market, owning 1,669 properties, which accounts for a substantial 87.9% of all 1,898 investor-owned SFR properties. Companies hold a significantly smaller share, owning just 249 properties (13.1%).

The overall market penetration of investor-owned SFR stands at 23.3%, with 1,898 properties held by landlords out of a total of 8,151 SFR properties in Holmes County. This indicates a notable portion of the housing stock is dedicated to rentals.

Investor-owned properties in Holmes County are overwhelmingly geared towards the rental market, with 1,880 properties classified as rented, representing 99.1% of the total 1,898 investor-owned SFR properties. This strong non-owner-occupied rate reinforces the rental-focused strategy of landlords in the area.

A significant majority of investor-owned properties (1,436 properties, or 75.7%) were acquired with cash, while 462 properties (24.3%) were financed. This high reliance on cash purchases suggests a financially robust investor base or a preference for avoiding financing costs in this market.

While individual landlords make up 91.9% of landlord entities (2,557 out of 2,782 total landlords), they collectively own 87.9% of properties, indicating that individual landlords typically hold smaller portfolios. Company landlords, though only 8.1% of entities (225 total), collectively own 13.1% of properties, suggesting a slightly higher average property count per entity for companies.

In a surprising reversal, landlords in Holmes County paid an average of $415,725 for SFR properties in Q4 2025, a significant $64,738 (18.4%) premium compared to traditional homeowners who acquired properties for $350,987. This contrasts sharply with typical market trends where landlords often secure properties at a discount.

The price discrepancy between landlords and homeowners has shown extreme volatility throughout 2025. After securing a 5.2% discount in Q1 ($284,474 vs $300,026), landlords paid a slight premium of 0.8% in Q2 ($382,653 vs $379,647), a minor 0.1% discount in Q3 ($369,001 vs $369,480), before the substantial 18.4% premium in Q4.

Holmes County has experienced significant SFR price appreciation over recent years. The average landlord acquisition price for Year 2025 was $376,956, representing a substantial 57.5% increase from the $239,256 average observed during the 2020-2023 period. This upward trend highlights a rapidly appreciating market.

The average acquisition price in Year 2025 ($376,956) also increased by 22.1% compared to the Year 2024 average of $308,797, signaling continued robust growth in property values within the county. This consistent appreciation contributes to a strong seller's market for landlords looking to exit.

While acquisition counts for landlords are reported as '0 properties' for all timeframes in Section 6-1, the presence of average acquisition prices indicates some underlying transactions, suggesting a data reporting nuance rather than a complete absence of activity for these specific price points. Actual Q4 landlord purchases are documented elsewhere in this report.

Landlords were significant players in the Q4 2025 market in Holmes County, purchasing 33 SFR properties, which constituted a substantial 38.4% of the total 86 SFR purchases made during the quarter. This demonstrates strong investor confidence and activity despite the higher acquisition prices.

Mom-and-pop landlords (those owning 1-10 properties) completely dominated Q4 purchases, accounting for all 33 (100.0%) of the properties acquired by investors. Institutional investors (Tier 09) showed no purchasing activity in Holmes County during this period.

The largest segment of purchasing activity came from single-property landlords (Tier 01), where 40 entities were involved in acquiring 26 properties, making up 78.8% of all landlord purchases in Q4. This signals robust entry-level investment and the expansion of small-scale portfolios.

Looking at the distribution of Q4 landlord purchases by tier, two-property landlords (Tier 02) contributed 4 properties (12.1%), and small landlords (Tier 06-10) acquired 3 properties (9.1%). This diverse activity within the mom-and-pop segment shows broad engagement across smaller portfolio sizes.

The 40 entities involved in Tier 01 purchases indicate a significant influx of new or expanding single-property landlord activity, reinforcing the trend of individual investors shaping the market in Holmes County.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tier 01-04) collectively dominate the investor-owned SFR market in Holmes County, controlling an overwhelming 99.4% of the 1,925 properties held by investors. This strong concentration in smaller portfolios underscores the local, individual nature of the rental market.

The single-property landlord tier (Tier 01) forms the foundation of investor-owned housing, with 1,707 properties, representing a significant 88.7% of all investor-owned SFR. This highlights the prevalence of first-time or small-scale investors in the county.

Mid-size landlords (Tiers 05-08) hold a minimal share, with portfolios ranging from 11-1000 properties accounting for only 10 properties (0.5%) combined. This indicates a gap in the market for larger, but sub-institutional, investor operations.

Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have a negligible presence in Holmes County, owning only 1 property, which represents a mere 0.1% of all investor-owned SFR. This suggests Holmes County is not a target market for large-scale corporate acquisition strategies.

The distribution reveals a deeply fragmented market characterized by a multitude of small landlords, where the largest segment by far are those with a single investment property. This structure implies a more resilient and locally-responsive rental market, less susceptible to large corporate shifts.

While individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the smaller tiers, a significant shift occurs at the 6-10 property tier (Tier 06-10), where companies become the majority owners. For this tier, companies own 11 properties (68.8%), significantly outpacing individual investors who own 5 properties (31.2%).

Individual investors are the primary force in the entry-level and small portfolio segments. They own 1,553 properties (90.0%) in the single-property tier (Tier 01) and 89 properties (77.4%) in the two-property tier (Tier 02), underscoring their foundational role in the market.

Even in the slightly larger 3-5 property tier (Tier 03-05), individual investors maintain a strong majority, owning 49 properties (63.6%) compared to companies with 28 properties (36.4%). This highlights the gradual transition of ownership composition as portfolio size increases.

The data confirms that Holmes County's investor market is largely built upon individual investors who form the bulk of its landlord base. Companies, while present, tend to concentrate their holdings in slightly larger, though still modest, portfolios within the mid-range of mom-and-pop tiers.

The lack of specific pricing data by owner type and tier prevents direct comparison of acquisition costs between individual and company investors, though the shift in ownership composition by tier suggests different operational scales and strategies at play.

Within Holmes County, the zip code OH-Holmes-44654 emerges as the dominant sub-geography for investor activity, boasting 1,040 landlord-owned SFR properties. This represents a significant 24.9% of the total SFR properties in that area, highlighting a major concentration of rental housing.

Other key areas by property count include OH-Holmes-44633 with 121 properties (26.5% investor rate), OH-Holmes-44681 with 117 properties (22.0% rate), and OH-Holmes-44611 with 113 properties (24.2% rate). These zip codes collectively form pockets of substantial investor presence within the county.

While the regions with the highest counts demonstrate significant volume, smaller, more localized zip codes exhibit extreme investor saturation. OH-Holmes-44610, 44687, and 44690 each show a 100.0% investor ownership rate, suggesting these are highly concentrated, possibly niche or smaller sub-markets fully absorbed by investors.

The geographic distribution reveals a dual pattern: large sub-markets like OH-Holmes-44654 attract the highest number of investor properties, while certain smaller, perhaps rural, areas have nearly all their SFR properties owned by investors. This dichotomy illustrates varying market dynamics and investment targets across the county.

The combined investor-owned properties in the top 5 zip codes by count (excluding the 'nan' value for 43812) amount to 1,404 properties. This highlights how a relatively small number of geographic areas account for a large portion of the county's total investor-owned housing stock.

Landlords in Holmes County demonstrated a highly aggressive buying posture in Q4 2025, executing 53 buy transactions while only making 3 sell transactions. This results in a substantial net acquisition of 50 properties and an exceptionally high buy/sell ratio of 17.67x, indicating strong market confidence.

This trend of net buying is consistent across recent periods. For the entirety of Year 2025, landlords completed 164 buy transactions against 20 sell transactions (net 144 properties, 8.2x buy/sell ratio). In Year 2024, they made 132 buys and 11 sells (net 121 properties, 12x buy/sell ratio), consistently accumulating properties.

In stark contrast to the overall landlord activity, institutional investors (1000+ tier) maintained a neutral stance in Year 2024, with 1 buy and 1 sell transaction. This indicates that this tier is neither significantly expanding nor divesting its holdings in Holmes County, suggesting a lack of large-scale institutional engagement.

The sustained high buy/sell ratios for all landlords point to a market where investor demand for SFR properties significantly outweighs their willingness to sell. This robust buying pressure from individual and smaller-tier landlords is a key driver of market dynamics in Holmes County.

The absence of buy vs sell average price data in this section prevents an analysis of implied profit margins or pricing strategies during transactions, but the sheer volume of buys relative to sells highlights a clear accumulation phase for landlords.

In Q4 2025, landlords were involved in 53 transactions, representing a substantial 37.6% of the total 141 SFR transactions in Holmes County. This confirms their significant role in market liquidity and property exchange during the quarter.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) exclusively drove landlord transaction activity in Q4, accounting for all 53 transactions. Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the most active, participating in 40 transactions, while two-property (Tier 02) and small landlords (Tier 06-10) contributed 8 and 5 transactions, respectively.

Average purchase prices in Q4 showed considerable variation across tiers, indicating differing property types or investment strategies. Two-property landlords (Tier 02) paid the highest average price at $587,500, followed by single-property landlords (Tier 01) at $408,547.

Conversely, small landlords (Tier 06-10) secured properties at a much lower average price of $194,000. This disparity reveals a massive 202.8% price gap, or $393,500 difference, between the highest-paying two-property investors and the lowest-paying small landlords, suggesting diverse market segments.

Inter-landlord trading activity was low among the smallest tiers, with no properties bought from other landlords by Tier 01 or Tier 02 investors. However, small landlords (Tier 06-10) engaged in significant inter-landlord transactions, with 3 out of their 5 purchases (60.0%) coming from other landlords, suggesting a more active secondary market for larger mom-and-pop portfolios.