Florence’s decision frame starts with Zillow’s typical city home value of $226,001 and typical observed market rent of $1,313 a month. Their implied gross yield is 7.0% before vacancy, maintenance, management, insurance, taxes, utilities, capital work and financing. The Zillow value equals 4.0x ACS median household income, while annual Zillow rent equals 28.1% of that income. These are broad affordability screens, not property cash flow or a tenant-specific affordability test.
The city has 19,110 housing units; renters occupy 41.6% of occupied units, and 14.1% of all units are vacant. Those citywide measures describe tenure and stock, not how quickly a particular unit will lease. ACS reports a $211,400 median home value and $992 median gross rent among surveyed occupied housing; gross rent includes contract rent plus selected utilities. These ACS measures differ in concept and period from Zillow’s typical value and observed market rent, so they should not be averaged.
Direct city depth is mixed: 54.1% of renter households are cost-burdened, while single-family homes form 70.1% of housing units and large multifamily buildings form 6.0%. Of vacant units, 30.3% are classified as for rent, but this survey share does not measure available investment inventory. The ACS population estimate was 5.0% higher across the overlapping vintages; that change is not annualized and may reflect boundary change. Median household income is $56,143, with 18.9% poverty and 5.4% unemployment. These demand constraints are descriptive, not causal, and cannot establish property-level rent, applicant depth or lease-up.
In county context, Darlington County reports 66 median days on market and a 15.5% price-reduced share. In separate county context, Florence County reports 64 median days on market and a 15.3% price-reduced share; neither county record measures the city alone. For the broader Florence metro, months of supply is 5.4 and jobs declined 0.1% over the reported interval, providing metro liquidity and employment context rather than city results. At national scope, the Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate was 6.66%, a national financing benchmark rather than a local loan quote.
The central underwriting limitation is that city averages and county, metro and national context do not specify a building’s income or costs. Verify address-level asking price, achievable rent, concessions, occupancy, lease terms and utility responsibility. Then inspect condition, deferred maintenance and major-system life; obtain parcel-specific taxes, insurance and hazard terms; and price management, turnover, repairs and reserves. Finally, compare actual financing quotes and test cash flow under vacancy and expense stress before deciding.