Logan (IL) Investor Pulse Report (2025-Q4)

In Logan County, investors hold 649 single-family residential properties, accounting for 7.4% of the total 8,771 SFRs in the market.

The ownership landscape is overwhelmingly dominated by individual investors, who own 536 properties, or 82.6% of the entire investor-owned portfolio. Company investors hold the remaining 124 properties (19.1%), underscoring the market's 'mom-and-pop' character.

A significant financial characteristic of this market is the low reliance on debt. A remarkable 81.7% of investor-owned properties (530) were acquired with cash, compared to just 119 that are financed, signaling high equity and financial stability among local landlords.

The investor base itself reflects this individual dominance, with 577 individual landlords compared to just 69 company landlords. This 8-to-1 ratio of individuals to companies reinforces that the market is driven by small-scale participants.

The portfolio is actively utilized for housing, with 597 of the 649 properties (92.0%) classified as rented. This high rental rate indicates that investors are primarily focused on providing long-term housing rather than holding properties for speculative purposes.

In a striking reversal of previous patterns, landlords paid a premium for properties in Q4 2025. Their average acquisition price of $179,700 was 15.0% higher than the $156,321 paid by traditional homeowners, a difference of $23,379 per property.

This Q4 activity stands in stark contrast to the rest of the year, where landlords consistently purchased properties at a significant discount. For instance, in Q3 2025, they paid 38.6% less than homeowners, saving an average of $60,991 per home.

The most extreme discount occurred in Q1 2025, when the landlord purchase price of $43,300 was 70.6% below the homeowner price of $147,379. This represents a massive $104,079 price gap.

The dramatic swing from a 70.6% discount in Q1 to a 15.0% premium in Q4 suggests a significant shift in the market. This could be driven by increased competition for limited inventory or a change in investor strategy to acquire higher-quality, move-in-ready assets rather than distressed properties.

Overall, investor purchase prices in Logan County have shown significant year-over-year appreciation. The average price in 2025 ($126,037) was 25.9% higher than the average in 2024 ($100,122).

Landlords were a significant force in the Q4 2025 market, purchasing 25 of the 128 total SFRs sold, which translates to a 19.5% market share of all acquisitions.

The bulk of this purchasing activity was driven by small-scale 'mom-and-pop' investors. Landlords in Tiers 01-04 (owning 1-10 properties) acquired 19 homes, representing 76.0% of all investor purchases for the quarter.

In stark contrast, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) had a minimal impact, purchasing only 2 properties, or 8.0% of the investor total. This highlights the localized, small-investor nature of the market.

The market continues to attract new participants, with 11 new single-property landlords (Tier 01) making their first purchase in Q4. This group alone accounted for 8 properties, or 32.0% of all investor acquisitions.

Mid-size landlords also showed activity, with those in the 11-20 property tier purchasing 4 homes, accounting for 16.0% of the quarterly investor total.

The investor market in Logan County is overwhelmingly dominated by small-scale landlords. Those owning 1-10 properties (Tiers 01-04) collectively hold 89.9% of all investor-owned SFRs, cementing their role as the primary source of rental housing.

Dispelling narratives of corporate dominance, institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have a minimal presence, owning just 3 properties, which amounts to only 0.4% of the investor-owned market.

The single-property landlord tier is the largest and most significant segment. These 406 properties represent 59.5% of all investor-owned homes, indicating a highly fragmented market with a low barrier to entry.

Mid-size landlords have a modest but established presence. Investors owning 11-50 properties hold a combined 60 homes, or 8.8% of the total investor portfolio.

The distribution clearly shows that market power is concentrated at the smallest end of the investor spectrum, with ownership tapering off dramatically as portfolio sizes increase.

While individual investors dominate the overall market, companies become the majority owners at the 11-20 property tier. In this segment, companies own 28 properties (59.6%) compared to 19 owned by individuals (40.4%), marking a key transition point towards more formalized ownership structures.

This crossover contrasts sharply with smaller portfolios, where individual ownership is overwhelming. For instance, in the single-property tier, individuals own 373 homes (91.9%), while companies own just 33 (8.1%).

Individual dominance continues through the 3-5 property tier (75.4% individual) and the 6-10 property tier (72.3% individual), highlighting their control over the 'mom-and-pop' segment.

Interestingly, the trend toward company dominance is not linear in this market. In the 21-50 property tier, ownership reverts back to individuals, who hold 11 properties (84.6%), suggesting that even at a larger scale, individual investors play a crucial role in Logan County.

This pattern indicates that while some investors incorporate as they scale past 10 properties, there is not a wholesale shift to corporate ownership, and skilled individual investors continue to expand their portfolios successfully.

Geographic analysis reveals distinct patterns of investor concentration within Logan County. The 62656 zip code stands out for the highest volume of investor activity, hosting 373 investor-owned SFRs.

However, the highest market penetration is found elsewhere. In the 62541 zip code, investors own 28.1% of the housing stock, making it the area with the highest density of rental properties relative to its size.

This divergence between the leader in raw count (62656) and the leader in ownership rate (62541) suggests different market dynamics at play. The former may be a larger residential area attracting broad investment, while the latter could be a smaller market with a housing stock particularly suited for rentals.

The investor ownership rate in the highest-volume zip code, 62656, is 6.8%, which is slightly below the county-wide average of 7.4%. This reinforces that high counts do not always equate to high market saturation.

The incomplete data for other zip codes (61721, 61749, 61754, 62613) prevents a full county-wide comparison but highlights the known pockets of significant investor presence.

Investors in Logan County have been consistently accumulating properties, demonstrating strong confidence in the local market. In Q4 2025, they were aggressive net buyers, with 28 purchases against only 6 sales, resulting in a net gain of 22 properties.

This trend of net acquisition has been consistent throughout recent years. For the full year of 2025, landlords purchased 78 properties while selling 30, for a net gain of 48. In 2024, the activity was even stronger, with 99 buys versus 28 sells, for a net gain of 71 properties.

A critical divergence in strategy is evident between the overall market and institutional investors. While local landlords are buying, the 1000+ tier investors have been neutral or selling. They were balanced in 2025 (4 buys, 4 sells) and were net sellers in 2024 (2 buys, 3 sells).

This pattern reveals a transfer of properties away from large, institutional owners towards smaller, local landlords who continue to expand their portfolios.

While landlords remain net buyers, the total annual purchase volume has moderated slightly, decreasing from 99 acquisitions in 2024 to 78 in 2025, suggesting a return to a more sustainable pace of investment.

In Q4 2025, landlords were involved in 28 of the 172 total SFR transactions, representing a 16.3% share of all market activity.

Transaction volume was dominated by mom-and-pop investors (Tiers 01-04), who were responsible for 22 of the 28 landlord transactions, while institutional investors conducted only 2.

A dramatic pricing difference between tiers highlights divergent acquisition strategies. First-time landlords (Tier 01) paid an average price of only $36,000, suggesting a focus on distressed or low-cost properties. In stark contrast, landlords in the 3-5 property tier paid an average of $600,000, indicating acquisitions of high-value assets or multi-property deals.

The market shows healthy internal liquidity, with investors frequently buying from one another. In Q4, 18.2% of purchases by single-property landlords came from existing landlords. This rate was even higher for the 11-20 property tier, where 25.0% of acquisitions were from other investors.

The two-property tier investors paid the lowest average price at $21,500, further emphasizing that smaller landlords are targeting the lower end of the market for entry and expansion.