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

Grundy County, TN, exhibits a remarkably high investor penetration, with 2,312 SFR properties currently investor-owned, representing 51.7% of the total SFR market. This signifies a market heavily influenced by rental and investment activity rather than traditional owner-occupancy.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate the landlord landscape, owning 2,156 properties which accounts for 93.3% of all investor-owned SFR. In contrast, company-owned SFR properties stand at a mere 174, making up only 7.5% of the portfolio, illustrating a predominantly mom-and-pop driven market structure.

The portfolio composition highlights a strong rental focus, with 2,302 properties (99.6% of investor-owned SFR) classified as rented. This indicates that nearly all investor-held properties in Grundy County are actively contributing to the rental housing supply.

A significant portion of investor holdings, 1,919 properties, were acquired with cash, representing 82.9% of the total investor-owned SFR. This suggests a preference for cash transactions or a high degree of financial liquidity among Grundy County's investor base.

The sheer number of individual landlords, totaling 2,930 entities, dwarfs the 169 company landlords, yielding a 17.3:1 ratio. This entity distribution further underscores the granular, small-scale nature of the landlord market in Grundy County, with a high number of individuals managing relatively small portfolios.

Landlord acquisition pricing in Grundy County demonstrated extreme volatility throughout 2025 when compared to traditional homeowners. The market shifted dramatically from landlords enjoying a massive 39.7% discount in Q1 to paying a double-digit premium in Q3.

In Q4 2025, landlords paid an average of $267,773 per property, which was a 7.2% premium, or $17,973 more, than the average $249,800 paid by traditional homeowners. This marks a notable reversal from earlier in the year, indicating increased competition or specific market conditions driving up prices for investors.

The most significant divergence occurred in Q1 2025, where landlords acquired properties for an average of $172,376, securing a substantial $113,338 discount (39.7%) compared to homeowners paying $285,714. This suggests opportunistic buying during that period, likely targeting distress or off-market deals.

Conversely, in Q3 2025, landlords paid their highest premium, an average of $307,916, which was $30,304 or 10.9% more than homeowners at $277,612. This quarter represented the peak in landlord overpayment for the year, contrasting sharply with the Q1 discounts.

The pricing trend indicates an inconsistent market for landlord acquisitions in Grundy County, where the price gap against homeowners fluctuated wildly. The premium in Q4 and Q3 suggests landlords were willing to pay more, possibly for specific inventory or due to intensified demand, while the Q1 discount points to periods of strategic, low-cost acquisitions.

Landlords were highly active in Grundy County during Q4 2025, capturing 52.6% of the market with 20 SFR purchases out of a total of 38. This indicates a significant portion of available housing stock is being acquired by investors.

Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) were the exclusive players in the investor purchasing landscape, accounting for all 21 landlord acquisitions in Q4 2025 (100.0%). There was no recorded purchase activity from institutional investors (Tier 09) during this period.

The vast majority of Q4 landlord activity came from single-property investors (Tier 01), who acquired 19 properties. This represents 90.5% of all landlord purchases, solidifying their role as the primary drivers of investor acquisition in the county.

Notably, 28 distinct entities contributed to these single-property purchases in Q4 2025, signifying a strong influx of new or expanding small-scale investors entering the market. This highlights a grassroots level of investment rather than corporate consolidation.

Small landlords in Tier 03-05 made up the remaining activity, acquiring 2 properties with 3 entities. Their contribution, while smaller, confirms the pervasive activity of individual and small-portfolio investors.

The investor-owned SFR market in Grundy County is overwhelmingly controlled by smaller landlords, with mom-and-pop investors (Tiers 01-04) holding a staggering 99.3% of the entire portfolio. This concentration highlights a fragmented market structure, primarily composed of local and individual owners.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) are the most significant segment, owning 2,141 properties, which represents 90.7% of all investor-owned SFR. This underscores the prominence of first-time or casual landlords as the cornerstone of the county's rental housing supply.

The complete absence of institutional investors (Tier 09) in Grundy County, holding 0.0% of the market, contradicts broader narratives of corporate housing dominance. Instead, the market is sustained by a multitude of smaller entities.

Landlords with two properties (Tier 02) own 124 properties (5.3%), while those with 3-5 properties (Tier 03-05) hold 75 properties (3.2%). This tiered distribution further emphasizes the prevalence of very small-scale operations within the investor landscape.

Even mid-size landlord tiers (11-1000 properties) account for less than 1% combined, with Tier 11-20 holding 13 properties (0.6%), Tier 21-50 holding 1 property (0.0%), Tier 51-100 holding 1 property (0.0%), and Tier 101-1000 holding 2 properties (0.1%). This reinforces that large-scale portfolio management is exceptionally rare in Grundy County.

Individual investors are the predominant owner type across all observed portfolio tiers in Grundy County, firmly establishing themselves as the backbone of the landlord market. Their influence is pronounced from the smallest to moderately larger portfolios.

In the single-property tier (Tier 01), individual ownership accounts for 2,019 properties (93.5%), demonstrating an almost complete dominance over company ownership (140 properties, 6.5%) at the entry level of investment.

Even as portfolio sizes increase, individual investors maintain a commanding lead. In the 3-5 property tier, individuals own 76.0% (57 properties) compared to companies at 24.0% (18 properties), indicating companies' growing but still minority presence.

Companies achieve their highest proportional representation in the 6-10 property tier, holding 33.3% of properties (1 out of 3). However, individual investors still retain the majority at 66.7% (2 properties), preventing a crossover point where companies become the dominant owner type in any listed tier.

For slightly larger portfolios in the 11-20 property tier, individual ownership remains strong at 84.6% (11 properties), with companies holding only 15.4% (2 properties). This consistent pattern across tiers highlights that Grundy County's investor market structure is heavily geared towards private, individual ownership rather than corporate entities.

Grundy County displays significant geographic concentration of investor-owned properties, particularly within specific zip codes. The area as a whole shows a robust investor market, often surpassing 50% ownership rates in key sub-geographies.

The zip code TN-Grundy-37387 leads in the sheer volume of investor-owned properties, with 724 SFRs. This represents a substantial 53.9% of its total SFR market, indicating a high level of landlord activity within this specific area.

When examining investor ownership rates, TN-Grundy-37305 stands out with an impressive 69.8% of its SFR properties being investor-owned, making it the highest concentration by percentage within the county. Closely following, TN-Grundy-37374 reports 66.7% investor ownership, signaling intense landlord presence in these communities.

Notably, two zip codes, TN-Grundy-37356 and TN-Grundy-37387, feature prominently in both the top-5 lists for investor-owned property count and ownership percentage. This correlation indicates these areas are not only attractive to a high number of investors but also have a significant proportion of their housing stock already under investor control.

The overall high investor ownership rates across multiple zip codes in Grundy County, such as 63.6% in 37356 and 49.1% in 37339, point to a county-wide trend of substantial investor engagement. This widespread activity suggests a strong market for rental properties and long-term investment strategies.

Landlords in Grundy County are unequivocally net buyers, demonstrating a strong appetite for expanding their portfolios. In 2025, they executed 103 buy transactions against only 10 sell transactions, resulting in an impressive 10.3:1 buy-to-sell ratio.

This aggressive net buying trend intensified significantly in 2025 compared to the previous year. In 2024, landlords recorded 111 buys and 20 sells, yielding a 5.55:1 buy-to-sell ratio, indicating a marked increase in buying intensity over the last year.

Analyzing quarterly activity in 2025, landlords maintained a consistent net buyer position: Q4 saw 31 buys against 4 sells (7.75:1 ratio), and Q3 recorded 33 buys against 5 sells (6.6:1 ratio). This consistent positive net position throughout the year highlights sustained demand from investors.

In stark contrast to the overall landlord activity, institutional investors (1000+ tier) showed a net seller position in 2024, with 1 buy versus 3 sells, for a 0.33:1 ratio. This minimal activity suggests either a divestment strategy or a negligible presence for large-scale investors in this market.

The complete absence of institutional transaction data for 2025 further underscores their limited, if any, current involvement in Grundy County's SFR market. This reinforces the narrative of a market overwhelmingly driven by smaller, individual investors.

Landlords accounted for a substantial 48.4% of all SFR transactions in Grundy County during Q4 2025, participating in 31 out of 64 total transactions. This indicates that nearly half of all market activity involved an investor, highlighting their significant role in market liquidity.

Transaction volume was heavily concentrated among mom-and-pop landlords, with single-property investors (Tier 01) driving the bulk of activity. They completed 28 transactions, representing 90.3% of all landlord transactions this quarter.

Small landlords (Tier 03-05) contributed the remaining 3 transactions, showing that transaction activity in Grundy County is almost entirely composed of smaller, individual investors. No institutional (Tier 09) transactions were recorded.

There's a notable price disparity among active tiers: Single-property landlords (Tier 01) paid an average of $277,585 per transaction, significantly higher than the $186,000 average paid by small landlords (Tier 03-05). This $91,585 difference suggests differing strategies or inventory availability.

Inter-landlord trading activity was very low; only 1 transaction (3.6%) among single-property landlords involved buying from another landlord. This indicates that most acquisitions are occurring from traditional homeowners or other non-landlord sellers rather than through existing investor portfolios.