Cannon (TN) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Landlords in Cannon County, Tennessee, collectively own 839 Single Family Residential (SFR) properties, accounting for 21.8% of the total SFR market in the area. This substantial ownership indicates a significant investor presence within the local housing market.

The investor landscape is heavily skewed towards individual landlords, who own 775 properties, representing an overwhelming 92.4% of all investor-owned SFR. In contrast, company-owned properties make up a mere 77, or 9.2%, demonstrating the enduring dominance of individual, mom-and-pop investors.

The prevalence of individual landlords is further highlighted by entity counts, with 955 individual landlords compared to just 52 company landlords, a ratio of approximately 18.3 individual landlords for every company. This structure indicates a highly fragmented market largely composed of smaller-scale investors.

A striking 97.4% of landlord-owned SFR properties (817 out of 839) are rented, confirming that the vast majority of investor holdings are deployed as income-generating rental units. This high percentage underscores the rental-focused nature of the investor market in Cannon County.

Regarding acquisition methods, cash purchases are significantly more common than financed acquisitions, with 689 properties bought outright compared to 150 properties that are financed. This preference for cash suggests a strong capital position or strategic preference among landlords in the county.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Cannon County demonstrated exceptional purchasing power, acquiring properties for an average of $140,786. This was a striking $197,750 or 58.4% less than the average price paid by traditional homeowners, who acquired properties for $338,536, showcasing a profound pricing advantage for investors.

The landlord-homeowner price gap experienced considerable volatility throughout 2025. While landlords consistently paid less than homeowners, the discount percentage fluctuated wildly, from 32.6% in Q1 to 22.0% in Q2, then rising to 37.4% in Q3, before sharply widening to 58.4% in Q4.

This dramatic widening of the discount in Q4 2025 suggests that landlords were either targeting significantly lower-priced properties or exercising greater negotiation leverage in the latter half of the year. The average landlord price plummeted from $249,555 in Q3 to $140,786 in Q4, while homeowner prices also declined but less drastically.

Across 2025, landlord acquisition prices showed no clear upward or downward trend due to extreme quarterly fluctuations, however, the Q4 average of $140,786 represents the lowest average price landlords have paid since Q1 2025's $238,950, indicating potential shifts in market segments or buying strategies.

The extreme discounts observed for landlords, particularly in Q4, highlight a potential bifurcation in the market where investors are accessing a distinct segment of properties at significantly lower price points compared to those typically purchased by traditional homeowners in Cannon County.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Cannon County were responsible for 8 out of 45 total Single Family Residential (SFR) purchases, representing 17.8% of all market transactions. This indicates a consistent, albeit measured, level of investor activity within the county's housing market.

Mom-and-pop landlords, encompassing Tiers 01-04, overwhelmingly dominated investor buying activity in Q4, accounting for 7 out of the 8 landlord purchases (87.5%). This reinforces their position as the primary drivers of investment in the local SFR market, contrasting sharply with institutional investors (Tier 09), who made no purchases.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the most active segment, acquiring 4 properties, which constitutes 50.0% of all landlord purchases in Q4. This tier also saw 6 new entities entering the market, suggesting a steady influx of first-time or small-scale investors.

Following Tier 01, small landlords with 3-5 properties (Tier 03) made 2 purchases (25.0% of landlord activity), and those with 6-10 properties (Tier 04) made 1 purchase (12.5%). This distribution further solidifies the market's reliance on smaller investors for acquisition activity.

The consistent participation of mom-and-pop landlords, especially single-property owners, highlights that the entry point into real estate investment in Cannon County remains accessible to smaller players, rather than being concentrated among larger, institutional entities.

The distribution of investor-owned Single Family Residential (SFR) properties in Cannon County reveals an overwhelming dominance by smaller landlords. Mom-and-pop investors (Tiers 01-04) collectively control an impressive 97.0% of all investor-owned housing, signifying their foundational role in the local rental market.

Specifically, single-property landlords (Tier 01) represent the largest segment, owning 640 properties, which accounts for 71.4% of the total investor-owned portfolio. This concentration in the smallest tier emphasizes that the vast majority of rental housing is managed by owners with minimal portfolios.

In stark contrast to the mom-and-pop stronghold, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) hold a negligible share, with only 1 property representing 0.1% of the total investor-owned SFR. This low figure clearly refutes narratives of institutional domination in this specific county market.

The next largest tiers after single-property landlords are the two-property segment (Tier 02) with 85 properties (9.5%), and small landlords with 3-5 properties (Tier 03) owning 92 properties (10.3%). These tiers further contribute to the highly fragmented and individually-driven market structure.

While data on acquisition prices by tier is not available for all timeframes, the current ownership distribution strongly indicates that Cannon County's investor market is characterized by a broad base of small-scale entrepreneurs rather than a few large corporations.

The distribution of ownership between individual and company landlords in Cannon County varies significantly across portfolio tiers. Individual investors maintain overwhelming control in the smaller tiers, accounting for 95.6% of single-property portfolios (Tier 01) with 614 properties, and 89.7% of two-property portfolios (Tier 02) with 78 properties.

As portfolio sizes increase, company ownership gradually rises. In the 3-5 property tier (Tier 03), individuals still hold a strong majority at 85.3% (81 properties), but company involvement grows to 14.7% (14 properties). This trend continues into the 6-10 property tier (Tier 04), where individuals account for 59.6% (31 properties) and companies hold 40.4% (21 properties).

An interesting pattern emerges in the 11-20 property tier (Tier 05), where individual ownership surprisingly rebounds to 95.2% (20 properties), with companies holding only 4.8% (1 property). This suggests that some larger individual landlords operate without a formal company structure, or that companies tend to bypass this specific size segment.

The critical crossover point where company ownership surpasses individual ownership occurs in the 21-50 property tier (Tier 06). Here, companies become the majority owners, holding 66.7% (2 properties) compared to individuals at 33.3% (1 property), indicating the shift to more formalized investment strategies at this scale.

Furthermore, in the 51-100 property tier (Tier 07), individual and company ownership reaches an equilibrium, each holding 50.0% of the properties (1 individual, 1 company). This marks the highest concentration of company ownership before the 1000+ tier (Tier 09), which has 1 property but no owner type breakdown is provided in this section.

Within Cannon County, Tennessee, the 37190 zip code stands out as the primary hub for investor activity, holding a dominant 563 investor-owned properties. This single zip code contains more than four times the number of investor-owned properties compared to the next highest, TN-Cannon-37026, which has 118 properties.

While 37190 leads significantly in sheer count, its investor ownership rate of 21.8% is not the highest in the county. TN-Cannon-37016 demonstrates the highest concentration of investor ownership, with 26.0% of its SFR properties being investor-owned, even though it only accounts for 53 properties.

The top five sub-geographies by investor-owned property count collectively highlight a strong regional concentration, with 37190, 37026, 37016, 37149, and 37095 accumulating the vast majority of landlord holdings in the county. These areas represent key targets for real estate investors.

A comparison between the top regions by count and by percentage reveals distinct market characteristics. Regions like 37016 and 37095, with high ownership rates (26.0% and 25.6% respectively), indicate markets where a larger proportion of available housing stock is controlled by investors, potentially signaling tighter competition for traditional homeowners.

This geographic analysis underscores that investor activity in Cannon County is not uniformly distributed. Instead, it shows clear pockets of high concentration, where investors have either accumulated a large volume of properties (as in 37190) or command a significant share of the local housing market (as in 37016 and 37095).

Landlords in Cannon County, Tennessee, have consistently acted as net buyers throughout 2024 and 2025, actively expanding their portfolios. In 2025 alone, landlords purchased 70 SFR properties while selling 23, resulting in a net gain of 47 properties and a robust buy/sell ratio of 3.04x.

The strong net buying trend was particularly evident in 2024, when landlords acquired 78 properties and sold only 18, yielding an even higher buy/sell ratio of 4.33x. This sustained accumulation suggests long-term confidence in the Cannon County market among investors.

While landlords maintained a net buyer position in Q4 2025, the pace of net acquisitions decelerated. With 11 buys and 5 sells, the Q4 buy/sell ratio stood at 2.2x, lower than Q3's 3.57x (25 buys vs 7 sells) and Q2's 3.2x (16 buys vs 5 sells), indicating a slight cooling off of purchasing intensity towards the end of the year.

The transaction data, however, does not provide details on the percentage of buy or sell transactions that occur between landlords. Similarly, information regarding average buy versus sell prices, which could offer insights into potential profit margins, is also unavailable.

It is important to note that specific transaction patterns for institutional investors (1000+ tier) are not provided in this dataset, precluding a comparison of their activity with the broader landlord market.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Cannon County were involved in 11 of the total 70 SFR transactions, representing a 15.7% share of the overall market activity. This indicates a significant, but not dominant, presence of investors in the quarter's real estate exchanges.

Transaction volumes varied across investor tiers, with single-property landlords (Tier 01) leading the activity with 6 transactions at an average purchase price of $185,017. Small landlords with 3-5 properties (Tier 03) followed with 3 transactions, though at a remarkably lower average price of $51,200.

An intriguing pattern of inter-landlord trading emerged for Tier 03 landlords in Q4. All 3 of their transactions were recorded as purchases from other landlords (100.0%), suggesting a strong internal market for smaller portfolio transfers within this specific tier. In contrast, Tier 01, Tier 04, and Tier 07 landlords made no purchases from other landlords.

The average purchase prices show considerable variation by tier, signaling diverse acquisition strategies. While Tier 01 paid the highest at $185,017, Tier 03's average of $51,200 stands out as exceptionally low, creating a wide price spread of $133,817 between the highest and lowest purchasing tiers.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tier 01-04) collectively accounted for 10 out of the 11 landlord transactions, further emphasizing their primary role in the market's liquidity. Institutional investors (Tier 09) showed no transaction activity in Q4 2025, reinforcing their minimal presence in this county's market.