Zillow’s current city ZHVI, its typical home-value measure, is $282,968, while ZORI, its typical observed market rent, is $1,399 per month. Their gross relationship is a 5.9% yield before property taxes, insurance, maintenance, vacancy, financing, or management. ZHVI is 3.7x city ACS median household income. This provides a top-line affordability and revenue screen, not a net-cash-flow result or an appraisal of any property.
Within the citywide housing stock, renters occupy 39.2% of occupied units. ACS reports a $244,200 median owner-reported home value and $1,157 median gross rent, which includes contract rent plus selected utilities. Those surveyed occupied-housing measures differ in definition and period from Zillow’s typical city value and observed market rent. They should not be averaged, substituted for one another, or treated as a current listing price or asking rent.
City ACS context shows 42.3% of renters in the 30%-plus rent-burden group. Single-family homes are 71.2% of units and large multifamily buildings are 8.6%. Of vacant units, 20.0% are for rent and 10.0% are for sale. Population increased 7.6% between overlapping ACS five-year vintages; this comparison is not annualized and may reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $77,456; poverty is 11.3% and unemployment is 4.7%. Poverty and unemployment are descriptive demand constraints, not causal explanations. These citywide survey facts describe households and stock, but cannot identify available investment inventory or prove that a particular rental will lease quickly.
In Bartholomew County, the county property-tax rate is 0.75%, and county Realtor data show 187 active listings and 42 median days on market. The broader Columbus metro reported employment down 1.3% and 1.4 months of supply. The national 30-year mortgage rate was 6.7%, a financing benchmark rather than a city borrowing quote.
Main underwriting gaps remain at the address level: condition, actual lease terms, turnover, utilities, repairs, management, insurance, financing, and tax bills. For a specific property, the next checks are verified rent comparables, operating statements, its property-tax bill, insurance and hazard disclosures, inspection findings, utility responsibility, any HOA or association obligations, zoning, and current vacancy or lease-up exposure. Confirm that its building type, condition, and vacancy status fit—not merely resemble—the citywide measures; gross yield remains only a pre-expense screen.