Roanoke's citywide Zillow ZHVI typical home value is $285,213 and ZORI typical observed market rent is $1,394 monthly, implying a 5.87% gross yield before every operating cost and financing. Zillow value rose 3.01% year over year while rent rose 5.10%; this is recent movement, not a forecast. ZHVI is 5.15x ACS median household income, while annual ZORI is 30.21% of that income. These citywide ratios signal affordability and cash-flow constraints but do not establish a property's achievable rent or return.
The city contains 49,106 housing units. Renters occupy 47.56% of occupied units, and citywide vacancy is 11.26%. ACS reports, for surveyed occupied housing, a $190,500 median owner-reported home value, $996 median gross rent and 1958 median year built. These measures differ in concept and period from Zillow's typical value and observed market rent; ACS gross rent includes selected utilities. They must not be averaged. The median building vintage makes condition, systems and deferred maintenance important property checks, not conclusions about every building.
City structure mix is 65.10% single-family and 7.45% large multifamily. The city rent-burden share is 45.34%, while for-rent units are 30.39% of vacant units; neither measures available investment inventory or guarantees leasing speed. Population declined 0.88% between overlapping ACS five-year estimates, a comparison that may also reflect boundary changes. Median household income is $55,378, poverty is 18.33%, and unemployment is 5.61%. These facts describe demand depth and constraints, but not tenant quality, achievable rent or property-specific occupancy.
The Roanoke City county record shows a median 61 days on market, a county listing-pacing measure rather than evidence of city asset quality. The broader Roanoke metro has 2.5 months of supply, a metro measure that should not be blended with city vacancy or county listing time. The national Freddie Mac 30-year mortgage rate is 6.58%, framing national borrowing conditions rather than a Roanoke loan quote. These county, metro and national indicators remain context, not substitutes for city or parcel evidence.
The underwriting gap is the absence of parcel price, unit mix, leases, operating history and condition. Verify attainable rent with comparable leases, inspect major systems, review utility responsibility and deferred work, and obtain the actual tax bill, insurance terms and financing quote. Check title, zoning, use permissions, hazard exposure, and realistic vacancy, turnover, management, repair and capital-reserve assumptions. Recalculate net operating income and debt coverage from property-level inputs; citywide Zillow yield is only a screening ratio.