Fort Collins’ current Zillow ZHVI is $569,102, while ZORI is $1,938 a month. Annual ZORI divided by ZHVI produces a 4.1% gross yield before taxes, insurance, maintenance, management, vacancy, financing and transaction costs. ZHVI is 6.7x ACS median household income, and annual ZORI equals 27.3% of that income. These are city-level screening metrics, not a property cash-flow conclusion or a household-specific affordability test.
The city has 74,558 housing units, of which 71,768 are occupied; its ACS vacancy rate is 3.7%, and renters occupy 48.4% of occupied units. ACS reports a $577,900 median value for surveyed owner-occupied housing and $1,690 median gross rent for surveyed renter housing, with selected utilities included. Those ACS measures differ in definition and period from Zillow’s typical city home value and typical observed market rent, so they should not be averaged or treated as matching observations.
The city ACS rent-burden share is 57.6%. Single-family structures are 60.4% of all city units, and large multifamily structures are 11.9%. Among vacant city units, ACS classifies 1,360 as for rent, 219 as for sale and 371 as seasonal; these survey reasons do not equal available investment inventory. Population increased 2.8% between overlapping ACS vintages, a nonannualized comparison potentially affected by boundaries. Median household income is $85,070, while poverty is 15.8% and unemployment is 5.4%; these are descriptive demand constraints, not causes or property-level leasing evidence.
County context for Larimer County shows a 23.9% price-reduced listing share, useful negotiation context that does not measure Fort Collins alone. The broader Fort Collins metro recorded 0.3% job growth and a 99.1% sale-to-list ratio; both are metro conditions, not city outcomes. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate is 6.58%, a national financing benchmark rather than a local borrowing quote.
Underwriting remains limited by citywide typicals and survey aggregates: none identifies acquisition condition, achievable unit rent, tenant turnover, operating expenses, insurance exposure, tax assessment after sale, financing terms or legal restrictions. Next, verify the subject’s rent roll and comparable leases, inspection findings, utilities, maintenance and capital plan, vacancy history, title, zoning, permits, property tax, insurance and lender quote. Recalculate net operating income and debt coverage from property-specific evidence.