Mayes (OK) Investor Pulse Report (2026-Q1)

In Mayes County, investors hold a significant 22.7% of the single-family residential market, totaling 2,329 properties out of 10,282.

Individual investors form the backbone of the rental market, owning 1,834 properties, which accounts for 78.7% of the entire investor portfolio. In contrast, company-owned properties number 527, making up the remaining 22.6%.

The ownership landscape is highly fragmented, with 2,888 distinct landlord entities operating in the county. This is composed of 2,541 individual landlords and 347 company landlords, indicating that the average portfolio size is very small.

A strong preference for all-cash acquisitions is evident, with 1,704 properties owned outright compared to 625 that are financed. This 2.7-to-1 cash-to-finance ratio suggests a market with high liquidity and less reliance on traditional lending.

The portfolio is heavily focused on generating rental income, with 2,270 of the 2,329 properties identified as rented, underscoring the primary business model for investors in the region.

In a striking departure from typical market behavior, landlords in Mayes County paid a significant premium for properties in Q1 2026. Their average acquisition price of $275,394 was 23.4% higher than the $223,209 paid by traditional homeowners, a difference of $52,185 per property.

This premium-payment trend has been consistent for the last three quarters. In Q3 2025, landlords paid an even larger 42.6% premium ($329,861 vs $231,305), and in Q2 2025, they paid a 20.9% premium ($303,327 vs $250,836).

The current market is a complete reversal from early 2025. In Q1 2025, landlords operated as expected, securing properties at a 25.4% discount compared to homeowners, paying $160,575 on average while homeowners paid $215,325.

This shift from securing deep discounts to paying substantial premiums suggests increased competition, a focus on higher-quality assets, or an aggressive growth strategy among local investors.

Comparing prices over a longer horizon, the average landlord acquisition price during the 2020-2023 period was $203,528, indicating that the most recent Q1 2026 price of $275,394 represents a 35.3% increase from the pandemic-era boom.

Investor activity was robust in Q4, with landlords purchasing 22 of the 92 single-family homes sold, capturing 23.9% of the total market volume.

Breaking from the common pattern of new entrants driving the market, the most active buyer segment was the small-medium tier (21-50 properties). A single entity in this tier acquired 10 properties, representing 45.5% of all investor purchases.

Mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties) also showed strong activity, collectively buying 9 homes and making up 40.9% of investor acquisitions for the quarter.

The market saw the entry of new investors, with 13 distinct entities purchasing their first property, accounting for 8 homes or 36.4% of the landlord total.

Institutional investors with 1,000+ properties had a minimal presence, purchasing only one property, which constituted just 4.5% of landlord acquisitions.

The investor landscape in Mayes County is defined by small-scale ownership. Mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties) collectively own 2,159 homes, a staggering 93.7% of the entire investor-owned SFR market.

The market is highly granular, with single-property landlords being the largest single group. This tier holds 1,820 properties, which accounts for 75.5% of all investor-owned housing, highlighting the importance of first-time and small-scale real estate investing in the region.

As portfolio sizes increase, the number of properties drops off sharply. Mid-size landlords (11-100 properties) own a combined 93 properties, or 3.9% of the market.

The narrative of large corporations buying up housing does not apply here. Institutional investors (1,000+ properties) have a near-zero presence, owning a total of only 3 properties, which is just 0.1% of the investor market.

This distribution underscores a market structure built on local, small-scale capital rather than large, consolidated investment funds.

While individual landlords own the vast majority of properties overall (78.7%), a clear pattern emerges as portfolio sizes grow. Individuals dominate the entry-level tiers, owning 86.8% of single-property portfolios (1,602 homes) and 79.4% of two-property portfolios (127 homes).

The ownership structure flips in the 6-10 property tier, which serves as the crossover point. Here, companies take a 55.9% majority stake, owning 52 of the 93 properties in this segment.

This trend toward professionalization continues into larger portfolios. In the small-medium tier (11-20 properties), companies control a commanding 79.2% of the assets (42 properties).

This data reveals a clear lifecycle: investors typically start as individuals, but as their portfolios expand beyond five properties, they are more likely to operate under a corporate structure for liability and financial reasons.

Even in the smaller 3-5 property tier, company presence is significant, with corporations owning 60 properties, or 32.3% of the homes in that category.

Geographic analysis reveals that investor ownership is not evenly distributed across Mayes County but is instead concentrated in a few key areas. The zip code 74361 is the clear epicenter of activity, with 976 investor-owned properties, representing a 20.3% ownership rate.

Following at a distance are the zip codes 74352, with 340 investor properties (23.7% rate), and 74301, with 263 investor properties (39.0% rate).

The areas with the highest counts are not necessarily those with the highest market penetration. Smaller zip codes exhibit the most intense investor concentration, led by 74441, where 100.0% of properties are investor-owned.

Other high-concentration areas include 74340, with a 61.5% investor ownership rate, and 74331, with a 47.4% rate, indicating specific neighborhoods are heavily targeted by investors.

This distinction between high-volume and high-penetration zip codes highlights different investment strategies, from scaling in larger markets to dominating smaller, niche ones.

The transactional data clearly shows landlords are in an aggressive accumulation phase in Mayes County. In Q1 2026, they were strong net buyers, with 27 acquisitions versus only 8 sales, resulting in a net gain of 19 properties.

This is not a new trend but a consistent strategy. Across all of 2025, landlords purchased 118 homes and sold just 31, for a net increase of 87 properties. The pattern was even more pronounced in 2024, with 198 buys against 29 sells.

A starkly different story emerges for institutional investors. The 1000+ property tier is either divesting or remaining neutral. They were net sellers in 2024, with one purchase and two sales, and their activity in Q1 2026 was flat with one purchase and one sale.

This dichotomy reveals that the market's growth is being fueled entirely by small and mid-size local investors, while the largest national players are slowly exiting their positions.

This trend suggests confidence among local operators who are actively expanding their portfolios, while institutional capital appears to be reallocating away from the area.

In Q1, landlords participated in 27 of the 131 total SFR transactions, accounting for a 20.6% share of market activity.

A dramatic pricing disparity was evident across investor tiers. New, single-property landlords paid the highest average price at $566,667 per home. In stark contrast, the institutional tier (1000+ properties) acquired its property for just $126,301, a 77.7% discount compared to the smallest buyers.

This price difference suggests fundamentally different acquisition strategies. New mom-and-pop investors appear to be buying turn-key or retail-priced properties, while larger, more experienced operators are targeting distressed or off-market assets at a significant discount.

The small-medium (21-50) and medium-large (51-100) tiers also secured properties at lower price points, averaging $45,000 and $131,178 respectively, reinforcing the pattern of scale leading to better pricing.

New landlords were also the most active in the secondary landlord market. Of the 13 properties purchased by single-property investors, 4 (30.8%) were acquired from other landlords, indicating a healthy flow of properties between smaller investors.