Brown (OH) Investor Pulse Report (2026-Q1)

In Brown County, OH, investors hold a significant 2,058 single-family properties, which constitutes 18.2% of the total 11,285 SFRs in the market. This reveals a substantial investor presence within the local housing ecosystem.

Ownership is heavily skewed towards individuals over corporations. Individual investors own 1,790 properties, accounting for a commanding 87.0% of the investor-owned portfolio, while companies hold the remaining 306 properties (14.9%).

This individual dominance is also reflected in the entity count, where 2,334 individual landlords operate in the county compared to just 210 company landlords. This composition underscores a market driven by small-scale, local real estate investing rather than large corporate entities.

When analyzing financing, a clear preference for liquidity emerges. Landlords own 1,356 properties with cash, a figure that is nearly double the 702 properties that are financed, signaling a well-capitalized investor base.

The rental focus of this portfolio is unambiguous, with 2,018 properties identified as non-owner-occupied. This high concentration confirms that the overwhelming majority of investor-owned properties are active rentals contributing to the local housing supply.

Investors in Brown County consistently purchase properties at a significant discount compared to traditional homeowners. In the first quarter of 2026, landlords paid an average of $241,410, which is 12.5% less than the $275,942 paid by homeowners, creating an average price gap of $34,532 per transaction.

This pricing advantage has been a persistent market feature, though its magnitude fluctuates. The discount widened from 9.2% ($26,510) in Q3 2025 and 5.6% ($16,083) in Q2 2025, indicating that investors' purchasing power relative to homeowners has strengthened recently.

Examining longer-term price trends reveals steady appreciation. The average landlord acquisition price of $241,410 in Q1 2026 marks an 18.4% increase from the pandemic-era average of $203,813 (2020-2023), highlighting significant equity growth for long-term holders.

The price gap demonstrates a key strategic advantage for investors, who are often more adept at identifying undervalued assets or negotiating favorable terms than typical homebuyers.

This consistent ability to acquire assets below the prevailing market rate for owner-occupiers is a primary driver of profitability and portfolio growth for investors in the region.

Investor purchasing activity remains a powerful force in the Brown County market, with landlords acquiring 20 of the 90 total SFRs sold in Q4 2025, capturing a 22.2% market share.

The overwhelming majority of this activity is driven by small-scale investors. Mom-and-pop landlords (Tiers 01-04) were responsible for 16 of the 20 investor purchases, an 80.0% share of acquisition volume. This highlights the grassroots nature of market activity.

New entrants are a key component of this trend. The single-property tier saw 22 new entities enter the market, purchasing 16 properties and comprising 80.0% of all investor acquisitions for the quarter.

In stark contrast, institutional investors with portfolios of over 1,000 properties played a minimal role, purchasing just 2 properties, which accounted for only 10.0% of the landlord total.

This distribution of purchasing power, with small investors driving 80% of activity, reinforces that market demand is primarily fueled by local entrepreneurs and new landlords rather than large, out-of-state corporations.

The ownership structure of investor-held real estate in Brown County is overwhelmingly dominated by small-scale landlords. Mom-and-pop investors (1-10 properties) own a combined 95.5% of all investor-owned SFRs, demonstrating their critical role in providing rental housing.

This market structure fundamentally challenges the narrative of corporate dominance. Institutional investors with portfolios of 1,000 or more properties control a mere 0.5% of the local investor market, with a total of just 10 homes.

The foundation of the market is the single-property landlord. This tier alone, comprising investors who own only one rental property, accounts for 1,636 homes, or 77.9% of the entire investor-owned SFR stock.

Mid-size landlords (11-1,000 properties) represent a small fraction of the market, collectively owning just 4.0% of the properties. Their limited presence reinforces the market's reliance on smaller operators.

This granular distribution, with nearly all properties held by investors with 10 or fewer units, indicates a highly decentralized and community-based rental market in Brown County.

While individual investors dominate the Brown County market overall, a clear pattern emerges as portfolio sizes increase: companies take control at larger scales. Individuals own the vast majority of smaller portfolios, holding 92.2% of properties in the single-unit tier and 66.3% in the 6-10 unit tier.

The crossover point occurs distinctly at the 11-20 property tier. In this segment, ownership flips dramatically, with companies controlling 43 properties (74.1%) compared to just 15 held by individuals (25.9%).

This trend of corporate prevalence continues into the next tier (21-50 properties), where companies own 10 homes, representing a 76.9% majority share. This indicates a strategic threshold where investors professionalize their operations under a corporate structure.

This data reveals a lifecycle of an investor in Brown County: starting as an individual and graduating to a corporate entity as their portfolio scales beyond approximately 10 properties.

Understanding this crossover point is crucial for anyone analyzing market behavior, as it signals a shift in operational strategy, financing, and management as investors grow.

Investor ownership in Brown County is geographically concentrated, with specific zip codes serving as hubs for activity. The zip codes 45121 and 45171 lead by volume, each containing 401 investor-owned properties, followed by 45154 with 285 properties.

While volume is concentrated in a few areas, investor ownership *rate* tells a different story. Smaller zip codes like 45119 show a remarkable 54.5% investor ownership rate, and several micro-zips (45115, 45103, 45177) report 100% investor ownership, likely due to a small number of total properties being rentals.

This highlights a key distinction: the areas with the most investor properties are not necessarily the areas with the highest percentage of investor ownership. For example, 45121 has 401 investor properties but a moderate 17.9% rate, suggesting a large overall housing stock.

In contrast, 45167 has fewer investor properties (241) but a higher penetration rate of 24.8%, indicating that investors have a proportionally larger footprint in that community.

This analysis of both count and percentage reveals distinct investment strategies, with some investors targeting larger, more liquid markets while others focus on dominating smaller, niche areas.

Transaction data reveals a clear divergence in strategy between small and large investors in Brown County. Overall, landlords are aggressive net buyers, consistently acquiring more properties than they sell. In Q1 2026, they purchased 27 SFRs while selling only 8.

This pattern of accumulation is a long-term trend. Throughout 2025, landlords maintained their net buyer status by a wide margin, with 174 acquisitions versus only 37 sales. This indicates strong confidence in the local market among the broader investor community.

However, institutional investors with 1,000+ properties are moving in the opposite direction. They were net sellers in 2025, selling two properties for every one they purchased. This divestment trend was also present in 2024, when they sold four properties and bought only two.

This stark contrast signals a market shift where smaller, likely local, investors are absorbing properties and expanding their portfolios, while the largest national players are reducing their exposure in Brown County.

The retreat of institutional capital, coupled with the aggressive buying from smaller landlords, defines the current transaction landscape and reinforces the market's hyperlocal, decentralized character.

In the first quarter of 2026, landlords participated in 27 of the 141 total SFR transactions, accounting for a 19.1% share of all market activity. This demonstrates continued and significant investor involvement in the county's real estate market.

A striking pricing disparity exists between investor tiers. New landlords in the single-property tier paid the most, with an average purchase price of $259,587. This is typical for new entrants buying market-rate, rent-ready homes.

Conversely, institutional investors (1,000+ tier) paid an average of only $125,050 per property. This is a 51.8% discount compared to the prices paid by single-property landlords, indicating a vastly different acquisition strategy focused on lower-cost, potentially distressed, or bulk assets.

The data also shows that new investors are primarily buying from the open market, not from other landlords. Only 4.5% of properties purchased by single-property landlords were acquired from another investor, suggesting they are competing directly with traditional homebuyers.

The transaction volume was heavily concentrated in the smallest tier, with single-property buyers accounting for 22 of the 27 landlord transactions, while institutional investors made only two purchases.