Haywood County presents an income-versus-liquidity tension: Zillow’s county median home value was $350,560, down 3.8% year over year, while median asking rent was $1,627, up 10.07%, producing reported gross yield of 5.57% before vacancy, repairs, insurance, financing, or taxes. That merits investigation by current-income buyers, but caution for anyone relying on resale or treating yield as stabilized. This is county evidence, not a wider-metro claim.
Market rent here means asking rent, not HUD support: the published two-bedroom FMR is $1,230, and the supplied rent/FMR ratio calculates to asking rent 32.3% above that payment standard. FMR cannot validate rent or substitute for tenant-paid market evidence. At a 0.57% property-tax rate, the yield still needs testing after taxes and operating costs. The FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI rose 0.72%, challenging rather than reconciling Zillow’s decline; the observations use different vintages and methods, and HPI is not a home value.
Demand evidence is mixed. Tax-return migration was net positive at 400, and average AGI for inbound movers exceeded outbound AGI by $4,942, supportive but not proof of rental demand or permanence. Realtor.com is MLS listing evidence: 63 median days on market and 24% price-reduced listings document marketing time and seller concessions, not closed-sale demand. Investor purchase mortgages represented 5.87% of total purchases, indicating limited measured investor participation; that share should not be read without its purchase denominator.
Underwriting should start with inland-flood diligence. The modeled annual building-loss ratio is 0.18%, but it is not an insurance quote or substitute for parcel-level flood-zone, elevation, drainage, deductible, and coverage checks. QCEW measures annual covered jobs at county workplaces, not resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast; employment fell 0.42% while covered-worker wages rose. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Missing closed-sale comps, lease-up or vacancy data, expenses, insurance, financing, property condition, and parcel hazard data prevent a stabilized net yield, resale valuation, or flood-adjusted cash-flow conclusion. Verify rent with comparable leases, then reconcile taxes and insurance to the subject parcel and test demand against employment and flood exposure.