Knox (IL) Investor Pulse Report (2026-Q1)

Investor ownership in Knox County is concentrated in the hands of 2,089 distinct landlords who collectively own 2,208 single-family residential properties, making up 12.7% of the total market.

The market is characterized by the dominance of individual investors over corporate entities. Individuals own 2,087 properties (94.5% of the investor portfolio), while companies own just 133 properties (6.0%).

This individual dominance is also reflected in the entity count, with 1,988 individual landlords compared to only 101 company landlords, a ratio of nearly 20 to 1.

A vast majority of investor-held properties are leveraged for rental income, with 2,119 of the 2,208 properties classified as rented or non-owner-occupied.

Cash is the preferred method of ownership, with 1,618 properties owned free and clear, more than double the 590 properties that are financed. This indicates a well-capitalized and low-leverage investor base in the county.

Landlords in Knox County demonstrated a significant pricing advantage in the first quarter of 2026, paying an average of $94,758 per property compared to the $170,015 paid by traditional homeowners.

This resulted in a substantial 44.3% discount, saving investors an average of $75,257 on each acquisition and showcasing a strong ability to find undervalued assets.

However, this discount is not consistent, highlighting market volatility. In Q3 2025, the trend reversed entirely, with landlords paying a 12.8% premium, or $20,019 more than homeowners on average.

In prior quarters of 2025, landlords secured more modest discounts of 5.5% in Q2 and 13.5% in Q1, suggesting that the massive 44.3% discount in Q1 2026 is an exceptional event rather than a stable trend.

Overall price trends show considerable fluctuation, with average acquisition prices for landlords moving from $131,276 during the 2020-2023 period to $88,625 in 2024 and back up to $156,340 in 2025.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, landlords acquired 9 of the 71 total SFR properties sold in Knox County, capturing a 12.7% share of market activity.

The entirety of this activity was driven by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (owning 1-10 properties) accounted for 100% of the 9 properties purchased by investors, with zero acquisitions from institutional buyers.

New entrants are a key driver of activity, with 9 new landlord entities making their first purchase. These single-property landlords bought 8 of the 9 investor-acquired homes, representing 88.9% of the purchasing volume.

The remaining 11.1% of investor purchases were made by a landlord in the 3-5 property tier, further cementing the market's reliance on small operators for rental housing supply.

The complete absence of institutional buying underscores that Knox County's investment landscape is a grassroots phenomenon, built by local and small-scale operators.

The distribution of property ownership in Knox County heavily favors small investors. Landlords in the 'mom-and-pop' category, who own between 1 and 10 properties, collectively control 92.7% of all investor-owned SFRs.

Single-property landlords (Tier 01) are the bedrock of the market, owning 1,332 properties, which translates to a majority share of 56.8% on their own.

The next largest tiers are also small-scale, with landlords owning 3-5 properties holding a 17.0% share, and those owning 6-10 properties holding a 9.4% share.

The narrative of large, corporate landlords does not apply here. Institutional investors (Tier 09, 1000+ properties) have no footprint in Knox County, with a 0.0% market share.

Even mid-size landlords are scarce. Investors owning between 11 and 100 properties collectively account for just 7.4% of the investor-owned housing stock, confirming the market's hyper-local, small-portfolio character.

Individual investors overwhelmingly dominate ownership in Knox County, maintaining a vast majority across nearly every portfolio size.

In the largest tier of single-property landlords, individuals own 1,256 homes (93.7%) compared to just 85 owned by companies (6.3%).

This pattern continues up the scale. Individuals own 97.3% of two-property portfolios, 96.0% of 3-5 property portfolios, and 100% of 6-10 property portfolios.

The only exception to this trend is in the thinly represented 51-100 property tier, which contains only 3 properties in total. Here, companies own 2 properties (66.7%), marking the technical crossover point, though it lacks statistical significance.

The data clearly shows that as portfolios grow in Knox County, they almost universally remain under the ownership of individual investors rather than transitioning to corporate structures.

A single zip code, 61401, serves as the epicenter of real estate investing in Knox County, containing 1,241 investor-owned properties. This represents more than half of the entire investor portfolio in the county.

The regions with the highest concentration of investor ownership by percentage tell a different story. Zip codes 61490 (33.3%), 61449 (29.5%), and 61428 (29.3%) show the deepest investor penetration.

This highlights a key distinction between investment scale and saturation. While 61401 is the hub for total volume, smaller surrounding areas have a higher proportion of their housing stock owned by investors.

The top five zip codes by sheer count of investor properties are 61401 (1,241), 61428 (247), and 61410 (181). Data for some smaller zip codes like 61412 and 61413 was not available.

This geographic distribution suggests investors are focused on building density in the core 61401 area while also targeting specific high-opportunity, smaller markets throughout the county.

Transaction data reveals a clear and sustained trend of portfolio growth among landlords in Knox County. They have consistently been net buyers over the past several years.

In 2025, investors purchased 83 properties while selling only 27, a buy-to-sell ratio of 3.07, indicating strong accumulation. This followed a similar pattern in 2024, with 80 buys and 30 sells.

The momentum has carried into the new year. In Q1 2026, landlords continued to expand their holdings by purchasing 11 properties and selling just 4.

Institutional investors (1000+ properties) were completely absent from the transaction market, recording zero buys and zero sells across all observed timeframes.

This persistent net-buying behavior, coupled with the lack of institutional activity, confirms that the growth in Knox County's rental market is driven exclusively by smaller, local investors actively expanding their portfolios.

In the first quarter of 2026, landlords were a party to 11 of the 77 total SFR transactions in Knox County, accounting for a 14.3% share of all market activity.

All 11 of these transactions were conducted by mom-and-pop landlords, with institutional investors making no moves. Single-property landlords were the most active, responsible for 9 of the 11 transactions.

A significant pricing disparity appeared between the smallest investor tiers. The newest entrants (single-property tier) paid an average of $106,037 per home.

This is dramatically higher than the $44,000 average price paid by landlords in the 3-5 property tier, suggesting that new investors may be paying a premium to enter the market compared to more experienced operators.

Inter-landlord activity was minimal. Of the 9 properties purchased by single-property landlords, only one (11.1%) was acquired from another landlord, indicating that new investors are primarily buying from homeowners or other sources.