DeKalb’s decision tension is a stated 5.54% gross yield on a $299,129 Zillow county median home value and $1,380 monthly median asking rent, against carrying costs that can materially narrow that headline. The 2.45% effective property-tax rate and $5,974 median annual tax make this a market for buyers who can validate assessed value, tax treatment, and operating expenses property by property; investors relying on a simple county yield should be cautious.
The rent is a measured market asking-rent series, so the supplied gross yield is usable only before insurance, taxes, maintenance, vacancy, and financing. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is $1,373, but it is a payment standard rather than an asking-rent estimate and should not replace market rent. Zillow’s county observation shows 5.60% year-over-year price growth; the separately supplied FHFA annual observation shows a 6.42% gain in its repeat-transaction index. They point in the same direction, but use different methods and supplied periods, and neither is a closed-sale comp.
Realtor.com records 151 active MLS listings and a median 39 days on market: they measure visible supply and marketing time, not closed-sale pricing or buyer demand by themselves. QCEW’s annual county workplace series showed covered employment growth, while trade, transportation, and utilities was the largest disclosed private supersector; neither is resident employment, unemployment, or the whole economy. Out-movers exceeded in-movers by 92 tax-return households, although arriving movers had $1,032 higher average AGI. Investor purchase mortgages were 73 of 1,157 total purchases, or 6.31%; that is measurable competition but does not identify cash buyers or the homes targeted.
Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled annual climate loss ratio is 0.11% of building value; it is not a claim history or a property-specific insurance quote. The county record lacks property-level flood-zone, elevation, drainage, insurance, condition, assessed-value, operating-expense, lease, vacancy, and closed-sale evidence. Those omissions prevent a net-yield, replacement-cost, and exit-price underwriting conclusion. Next checks are parcel tax bills and assessments, flood and insurance quotes, rent comps by unit type, and recent sale comps.