Forest (WI) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

Investor ownership in Forest County is exceptionally high, with 3,437 single-family residential properties held by landlords, accounting for 44.1% of the county's total SFR market of 7,801 homes.

The market is overwhelmingly dominated by 3,684 individual investors, who own 2,867 properties, representing 83.4% of all investor-owned SFRs. In contrast, 579 companies own just 607 properties (17.7%).

This individual dominance is further highlighted by the entity ratio; with 4,263 total landlords for 3,437 properties, it indicates a market structure composed almost entirely of single-property owners, many of whom may co-own properties.

Cash is the predominant form of acquisition, with 3,110 properties owned outright compared to only 327 that are financed. This nearly 10-to-1 ratio of cash-to-financed properties suggests a market characterized by low-cost assets or cash-heavy buyers.

The portfolio is heavily geared towards rental income, with 3,414 of the 3,437 investor-owned properties identified as rented, underscoring the business focus of these holdings.

In Q4 2025, landlords in Forest County secured properties at a remarkable 45.1% discount compared to traditional homeowners, paying an average of $141,500 while homeowners paid $257,709.

This significant pricing advantage translates to a savings of $116,209 per property, showcasing a strong negotiating position for investors in the current market.

The price gap has been extremely volatile throughout 2025, highlighting the nature of a thinly traded market. In a dramatic reversal from Q1, where landlords paid a 46.0% premium ($96,095 more than homeowners), the market has shifted to heavily favor investor buyers.

The trend shows a progressively widening discount for landlords over the year. The advantage grew from just 6.6% in Q2 to 28.3% in Q3, before culminating in the substantial 45.1% discount in Q4.

This increasing discount suggests that investor purchasing power has strengthened considerably, allowing them to acquire assets at increasingly favorable prices relative to the general market.

Landlords were a powerful force in Forest County's Q4 2025 real estate market, purchasing 8 of the 21 total SFRs sold, which constitutes a significant 38.1% market share.

The entirety of this investor activity was driven by small-scale mom-and-pop landlords. Of the 8 properties purchased, 7 were acquired by single-property investors (Tier 01), and 2 by two-property investors (Tier 02), with zero purchases from mid-size or institutional tiers.

The market continues to attract new entrants, with 9 new landlord entities making their first purchase in Q4. This influx of new, small investors underscores the accessible nature of the local market.

Institutional investors (Tier 09) were completely absent from the purchasing landscape, acquiring 0 properties and holding 0.0% of the Q4 purchase volume.

The concentration of activity at the smallest end of the investor spectrum highlights a market defined by local, individual participation rather than large-scale corporate investment.

The investor landscape in Forest County is the epitome of a mom-and-pop-dominated market, with landlords owning 1-10 properties (Tiers 01-04) controlling 99.9% of all investor-held SFRs.

This concentration is most extreme in the single-property tier (Tier 01), where landlords own 3,073 properties, making up 87.8% of the entire investor portfolio.

The scale drops off sharply, with two-property landlords (Tier 02) holding 229 properties (6.5%) and those with 3-5 properties holding 193 (5.5%).

There is virtually no presence from larger investors. Landlords with 11-50 properties collectively own just 3 homes, representing a negligible fraction of the market.

Institutional investors (1,000+ properties) are entirely absent from Forest County, holding 0.0% of the investor-owned housing stock. This reinforces the market's character as one completely driven by small, local participants.

Individual investors are the primary owners across every single investor tier in Forest County, reinforcing their control over the local rental market.

In the largest tier, single-property landlords, individuals own 2,565 properties (82.7%) compared to 535 owned by companies (17.3%).

This pattern of individual dominance continues up the scale. For two-property landlords, individuals own 79.2% of the properties. Among those owning 3-5 properties, the individual share is even higher at 89.8%.

Unlike in many other markets, there is no crossover point in Forest County where companies become the majority owners. The portfolio size remains firmly in the hands of individuals, even as it scales slightly.

This data illustrates a market structure where the growth path for investors is predominantly an individual pursuit, with corporate structures playing a minor, supporting role across all portfolio sizes.

Within Forest County, investor ownership is most concentrated in the 54520 zip code, which contains 925 investor-owned properties, representing a 39.0% ownership rate for that area.

While 54520 leads by sheer volume, other zip codes demonstrate even more intense investor penetration. The 54491 zip code has the highest rate, with 66.7% of its SFRs owned by investors.

A pattern of hyper-concentration is evident, with multiple areas showing investor ownership rates above 50%, including 54562 (60.4%), 54104 (59.1%), 54521 (57.0%), and 54542 (56.8%).

The top five zip codes by count (54520, 54511, 54566, 54465, 54541) collectively hold 2,836 properties, accounting for the vast majority of investor activity in the county.

This geographic analysis reveals that investor activity is not evenly distributed but is instead focused in specific communities where rental properties constitute a majority of the housing stock.

Historical transaction data from 2024 reveals that landlords in Forest County were overwhelmingly net buyers, demonstrating a strong appetite for portfolio expansion.

Across 2024, landlords purchased 261 SFR properties while selling only 5, resulting in a net gain of 256 properties to their collective portfolio.

This equates to a buy-to-sell ratio of 52.2, a powerful indicator of a market in a phase of aggressive accumulation by investors.

This buying trend suggests strong confidence in the local rental market and a clear strategy of holding assets rather than flipping them.

Consistent with their 0% market share, institutional investors recorded no buy or sell transactions, underscoring that all market dynamics are driven by smaller, non-institutional players.

In the final quarter of 2025, landlords played a role in 11 of the 31 total SFR transactions, representing a 35.5% share of all market activity in Forest County.

All of this transaction volume was concentrated among mom-and-pop investors. Landlords in the single-property tier were responsible for 9 transactions, while those in the two-property tier conducted 2 transactions.

A notable finding from Q4 is that 0% of investor purchases came from other landlords, indicating that investors are acquiring properties from homeowners or the new-build market, rather than trading assets among themselves.

Q4 pricing by tier revealed an unusual anomaly: single-property landlords paid an average of $155,722, more than double the $77,500 average paid by two-property landlords. This inversion is likely caused by the low number of transactions and the specific properties involved.

Institutional investors logged zero transactions, maintaining their absence from the market's transactional flow and reinforcing the dominance of small investors.