Scott (TN) Investor Pulse Report (2026-Q1)

Investors hold a significant footprint in Scott County, owning 1,805 single-family residences, which constitutes 35.1% of the county's total SFR market (5,138 properties).

The market is overwhelmingly dominated by individual investors, who own 1,733 properties, a commanding 96.0% share of the investor-held housing stock, compared to just 96 properties (5.3%) owned by companies.

This ownership pattern is mirrored in the entity count, with 2,253 individual landlords comprising the vast majority of the 2,344 total investors in the area, leaving only 91 company investors.

Cash is the predominant acquisition strategy, with investors owning 1,463 properties outright. This is more than four times the number of financed properties (342), indicating a low reliance on leverage among local investors.

The investor portfolio is almost entirely dedicated to rentals, with 1,784 of 1,805 properties (98.8%) classified as non-owner-occupied, underscoring their role in providing local housing supply.

Investors in Scott County demonstrate a strong ability to acquire properties below market rates, paying an average of $213,290 in Q1 2026, which is $64,453 less than the $277,743 paid by traditional homeowners, a 23.2% discount.

The price gap between landlords and homeowners is not static and shows significant volatility. In Q3 2025, investors achieved a remarkable 39.7% discount ($105,128), while the gap narrowed to just 8.7% ($20,876) in Q1 2025.

Landlord acquisition prices have trended upward recently, rising to $213,290 in Q1 2026 from an average of around $160,000 in mid-2025, signaling growing market values.

The year 2025 saw significant fluctuations in what homeowners paid, from $264,749 in Q3 down to $218,063 in Q2, directly impacting the percentage discount that investors were able to achieve each quarter.

Comparing prices from the 2020-2023 period ($164,828) to the most recent quarter ($213,290) reveals significant price appreciation in the assets targeted by investors.

Investors captured over a quarter of the market share in Q4 2025, purchasing 11 of the 40 total SFRs sold, a significant acquisition rate of 27.5%.

All investor purchasing activity this quarter came from mom-and-pop landlords (1-10 properties), who acquired 100% of the 11 homes bought by investors.

The market continues to attract new entrants, with 13 new single-property landlord entities entering the market. These newcomers acquired 10 properties, accounting for 90.9% of all investor buying activity.

Institutional investors were completely absent from the acquisitions market in Q4, purchasing zero properties and ceding all activity to smaller players.

Buying was highly concentrated at the smallest end of the investor spectrum, with only the single-property and two-property tiers recording any purchases for the quarter.

The investor market in Scott County is overwhelmingly dominated by small landlords. Those owning 1-10 properties (Tiers 01-04) control a combined 96.8% of all investor-owned SFRs.

Single-property landlords form the bedrock of the market, alone owning 1,599 properties. This represents 85.9% of the entire investor portfolio, highlighting the highly fragmented nature of ownership.

The influence of institutional investors is practically nonexistent. The 1,000+ property tier contains just one property, accounting for a mere 0.1% of the investor-owned supply.

There is a steep decline in ownership after the smallest tiers. All mid-size and large investors combined (owning 11 to 1,000 properties) hold only 3.2% of the portfolio.

This distribution reveals a market defined by local, small-scale real estate investing, challenging narratives of large corporate control over housing.

The balance of ownership shifts from individuals to companies in the small-medium (21-50 properties) tier, where companies own 3 of the 4 properties (75.0%). This marks the only tier where companies hold a majority.

Individual investors overwhelmingly control the entry-level tiers, owning 95.9% of all single-property investor homes and 91.1% of two-property portfolios.

A surprising pattern emerges in larger tiers where individuals, not companies, still dominate. For example, in the 51-100 property tier, individual owners hold 49 of the 51 properties (96.1%).

While individuals are spread across all tiers, companies appear to concentrate their limited holdings. They own 13.6% of properties in the 3-5 home tier and 10.0% in the 6-10 home tier.

Overall, the data shows that Scott County is primarily an individual investor's market. The total company-owned portfolio of 96 properties is dwarfed by the 1,733 properties held by individuals.

Investor ownership is highly concentrated by volume in the 37841 zip code, which contains 815 investor-owned properties. This single area holds more properties than the next four most active zip codes combined.

The 37732 zip code stands out for having a 100.0% investor ownership rate, meaning every SFR property in the area is investor-owned, likely indicating a market of exclusively rental housing.

Several other zip codes show deep investor penetration, including 37892 (41.0%), 37852 (40.8%), 37755 (38.4%), and 37756 (36.4%), identifying them as key sub-markets for investors.

A key distinction exists between concentration by count and by rate. The area with the most investor properties, 37841, has a lower ownership rate (32.8%) than smaller zip codes that are more saturated with investors.

The widespread presence of high investor ownership rates across multiple zip codes confirms that investment properties are a significant and integral part of the overall housing market in Scott County.

Landlords in Scott County are firmly in an accumulation phase, demonstrated by a powerful 10-to-1 buy-to-sell ratio in 2025, with 111 properties purchased and only 11 sold.

The pace of acquisitions has been strong and steady, growing from 78 properties bought in 2024 to 111 in 2025 and kicking off 2026 with 16 purchases in the first quarter.

Institutional investors operate with a completely different strategy. They were effectively net-neutral in 2025 (1 buy, 1 sell), showing none of the aggressive accumulation seen among smaller landlords.

The consistently low volume of sales from investors, with just 11 properties sold in 2025 and 11 in 2024, points to a prevailing buy-and-hold strategy across the market.

The sustained, net-positive acquisition activity quarter after quarter signals strong and ongoing confidence among local investors in the Scott County real estate market.

Landlords represented a major force in the Q1 market, accounting for 29.1% of all activity with their involvement in 16 of the 55 total SFR transactions in Scott County.

Transaction activity was entirely driven by mom-and-pop investors, who were responsible for 14 deals. Institutional investors remained on the sidelines with zero transactions.

New entrants appear to pay a premium. Single-property investors paid an average price of $218,159, which is considerably higher than the $150,000 average paid by investors purchasing their second property.

The market shows very little churn between investors. Inter-landlord trading is minimal, with only 1 of the 13 properties (7.7%) bought by new investors coming from an existing landlord.

Activity was heavily skewed towards the smallest investors, as single-property landlords alone accounted for 13 of the 16 total landlord transactions in the first quarter.