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

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the landlord landscape in Cocke County, owning 2,690 SFR properties, which accounts for 93.5% of all investor-owned housing. This contrasts sharply with company ownership, which stands at only 198 properties or 6.9%.

The total landlord-owned SFR portfolio in Cocke County comprises 2,876 properties, representing a significant 30.4% of the county's total SFR market of 9,476 properties. This indicates a substantial investor presence within the local housing stock.

Landlord holdings reveal a strong focus on rental income, with 2,856 properties identified as rented, representing 99.3% of the total investor-owned portfolio. This underscores the primary business model of landlords in the area.

A notable pattern in investment strategy is the high prevalence of cash acquisitions; 2,380 properties (82.7%) were purchased without financing, compared to only 496 financed properties (17.2%). This preference for cash suggests a market favored by investors with significant capital or a desire to avoid debt.

By entity count, individual landlords number 3,391, dwarfing the 159 company landlords, establishing an individual-to-company ratio of approximately 21:1. This further emphasizes the 'mom-and-pop' nature of the investor market in Cocke County.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Cocke County paid an average of $192,130 for SFR properties, securing a substantial $85,470 discount, or 30.8% less, than the $277,600 paid by traditional homeowners. This highlights a significant pricing advantage for investor buyers.

The price gap between landlords and homeowners has shown quarterly volatility, ranging from a 32.5% discount in Q1 2025 to a narrower 18.4% in Q2 2025, before expanding again to 31.3% in Q3 2025 and 30.8% in Q4 2025. This fluctuation suggests varying market conditions or negotiation opportunities throughout the year.

Landlord acquisition prices have seen consistent appreciation, rising from an average of $177,587 during the 2020-2023 period to $193,154 in 2024, and further to $204,972 for the full year 2025. This trend indicates a growing value in investor-held assets.

Comparing Q4 2025 acquisition prices ($192,130) to the pandemic-era average (2020-2023) of $177,587, there has been an 8.2% price appreciation. This illustrates the sustained growth in property values since the boom period, offering an implied return for long-term holders.

The persistent discount observed for landlords, particularly the over 30% gap in Q1, Q3, and Q4 2025, suggests that investors possess either superior market insight, better negotiation leverage, or are targeting distressed properties not typically pursued by owner-occupants.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Cocke County purchased 28 SFR properties, capturing a significant 32.9% share of the total 85 SFR purchases made during the quarter. This indicates a substantial and active presence in the current market.

The market continues to be driven by smaller investors, with mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) responsible for 25 purchases, or 89.3% of all landlord acquisitions in Q4. This contrasts sharply with institutional investors (Tier 09), who only acquired 3 properties, representing a minimal 10.7% of landlord purchases.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the most active segment, acquiring 15 properties, which constitutes 53.6% of all landlord purchases in Q4. This high concentration highlights the importance of new and small-scale investors in the market's activity.

A total of 20 entities made single-property purchases in Q4, indicating a healthy influx of new landlords or existing landlords expanding their portfolios in the smallest tier. This suggests continued accessibility and attractiveness of the market for individual investors.

The combined purchasing activity of Tiers 01, 02, and 03-05 accounts for 25 properties, reinforcing the overwhelming dominance of smaller landlords in recent acquisition trends. These tiers are clearly the primary drivers of investor-driven market demand in Cocke County.

Mom-and-pop landlords, encompassing Tiers 01-04, collectively control an overwhelming 98.6% of all investor-owned SFR properties in Cocke County, totaling 2,909 properties. This demonstrates that the vast majority of rental housing in the area is managed by small, independent investors.

The market is heavily concentrated in the smallest tier, with single-property landlords (Tier 01) alone accounting for 2,502 properties, representing 84.8% of the entire investor-owned SFR portfolio. This highlights the crucial role of first-time or minimal-portfolio investors.

In stark contrast to the mom-and-pop dominance, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) hold a marginal 0.1% of the investor-owned market, with just 4 properties. This finding significantly deflates common narratives about large corporations monopolizing the rental housing supply in this region.

Looking at the distribution, the ownership drastically tapers off after the smallest tiers. Tiers 02 (5.9%), 03-05 (5.9%), and 06-10 (2.0%) together comprise a modest fraction compared to Tier 01, further emphasizing the granular nature of investor ownership.

The data clearly illustrates that Cocke County's investor market structure is profoundly decentralized, with minimal influence from large-scale, institutional players. This indicates a more accessible market for individual entrepreneurs seeking to invest in residential real estate.

Individual investors maintain a dominant position across all specified portfolio tiers in Cocke County, with no observed crossover point where companies become the majority owners. For example, in the single-property tier (Tier 01), individuals account for 95.5% of properties (2,400) compared to companies at 4.5% (113).

The highest concentration of individual ownership is found in the single-property tier (Tier 01) at 95.5%, but this strong majority persists even in larger mom-and-pop segments, such as Tier 03-05 (90.9% individual) and Tier 02 (86.8% individual).

While companies do not achieve majority in any visible tier, their highest percentage concentration occurs in the 6-10 property tier, where they hold 37.9% of properties (22). However, individual investors still retain a significant 62.1% share in this mid-size segment.

Even in the small-medium tier (11-20 properties), individual investors continue to hold the vast majority, owning 84.2% of properties (16) compared to companies at 15.8% (3). This consistent individual dominance across all listed tiers is a defining characteristic of the Cocke County market.

This distribution pattern challenges the notion of significant corporate infiltration into even moderately sized landlord portfolios in Cocke County, reaffirming the market's strong reliance on individual-led investment and management.

Within Cocke County, the zip code TN-Cocke-37722 exhibits the highest concentration of investor-owned properties, totaling 642 SFR homes. This sub-geography represents 40.0% of its total SFR inventory, making it the primary hub for investment activity by volume.

Following TN-Cocke-37722, the zip code TN-Cocke-37727 is another significant area for investors, with 280 properties under landlord ownership and a substantial investor ownership rate of 42.7%. These areas form the core of the investor landscape in the county.

TN-Cocke-37753, despite having fewer investor-owned properties at 103, boasts the highest investor ownership rate in the county at 44.4%. This signifies that nearly half of the SFR housing in this zip code is held by landlords, indicating deep market penetration.

A clear correlation exists where sub-geographies with the highest counts of investor-owned properties also exhibit high investor ownership percentages. For example, TN-Cocke-37722, TN-Cocke-37727, and TN-Cocke-37753 appear in the top rankings for both metrics, indicating areas of intense, concentrated investment.

The calculated total SFR inventory for these top areas reveals varying market sizes, with TN-Cocke-37722 having approximately 1,605 SFR properties and TN-Cocke-37753 having around 232 SFR properties. This shows that high investor rates can exist in both larger and smaller sub-markets within the county.

Landlords in Cocke County are definitively net buyers, acquiring 36 properties while selling only 10 in Q4 2025, resulting in a net increase of 26 properties to their portfolios. This represents a robust buy/sell ratio of 3.6x, indicating active accumulation.

The trend of net buying remained consistent throughout 2025, with landlords purchasing a total of 158 properties against 30 sales, for a net gain of 128 properties for the year. This consistent activity underscores continued confidence and expansion by investors in the market.

Quarter-over-quarter, the buy/sell ratio for all landlords fluctuated but consistently signaled net purchasing; from 6.1x in Q3 2025 (49 buys/8 sells) to 5.0x in Q2 2025 (40 buys/8 sells), and then settling at 3.6x in Q4 2025. This shows a sustained period of portfolio growth.

In contrast to the overall landlord trend, institutional investors (1000+ tier) demonstrated a balanced transaction pattern in 2024, purchasing 2 properties and selling 2. This suggests a different strategic approach from larger entities, possibly focusing on portfolio rebalancing rather than aggressive accumulation in this specific market.

The sustained net buying across all landlords indicates a healthy demand for investment properties in Cocke County, signaling a market where investors are actively growing their presence rather than divesting assets. This behavior is a key indicator of market strength from an investor perspective.

Landlords actively participated in 36 transactions during Q4 2025, representing a significant 25.9% share of the total 139 SFR transactions in Cocke County. This illustrates their active role in the quarterly market dynamics.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) were the most active segment, engaging in 20 transactions, followed by two-property (Tier 02) and small landlords (Tier 03-05) with 6 transactions each. This distribution aligns with the overall dominance of smaller investors in the market.

Average purchase prices varied considerably by tier in Q4; medium-large landlords (Tier 51-100) paid the highest at $275,000 for their single transaction, while two-property landlords (Tier 02) secured properties at the lowest average price of $114,167.

Institutional investors (Tier 1000+) paid an average of $215,399, notably 3.6% less than the $223,368 average price paid by single-property landlords (Tier 01). This suggests a potential pricing advantage or different property targeting strategy for larger investors.

Inter-landlord trading was relatively low overall, with only 2 out of 36 landlord transactions (5.6%) involving purchases from other landlords. However, institutional investors relied more heavily on these trades, with 1 of their 3 transactions (33.3%) being sourced from another landlord in Q4.

The wide price spread of $160,833 between the highest ($275,000 by Tier 51-100) and lowest ($114,167 by Tier 02) average purchase prices indicates diverse property types, locations, or strategic buying patterns across different investor tiers in Q4.

The high transaction volume from Tier 01 (20 transactions) in Q4 compared to its overall ownership distribution (84.8% of properties) suggests a dynamic entry point for new investors and continued activity from the smallest portfolio holders in the market.