Lee County’s decision tension is a lower measured value alongside thinner economic footing: Zillow’s county median home value is $96,340, down 9.66%, while QCEW annual covered employment at county workplaces fell 4.07%. That warrants caution for buyers whose underwriting needs dependable tenant and exit depth, while the small listing base calls for subject-property investigation rather than a county-level conclusion.
Market asking rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be calculated. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not an estimate of asking rent, and cannot fill that gap. The effective property-tax rate is 0.46%; without market rent, its burden against income remains untested. Realtor.com’s MLS evidence shows 5 active listings and 111 median days on market. Active listings are visible supply and days on market is marketing time; neither is a closed-sale price or, alone, proof of buyer demand.
QCEW’s average covered-worker wage was $873, and its annual workplace data are neither resident employment nor an unemployment measure. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole county economy. Migration adds a separate caution: net migration was negative 26 tax-return households, and outbound movers had average AGI $3,520 above inbound movers. Investors accounted for 6 of 19 purchase mortgages, a 31.58% non-occupant share; that participation is material but rests on a small total and does not establish rental demand.
Earthquake is the identified dominant hazard; separately, the modeled annual climate-loss ratio is 0.22% of building value. These county-level indicators do not specify parcel seismic exposure or an insurance quote, leaving hazard-adjusted carrying costs unresolved. FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI is not published, so it cannot independently check Zillow’s direction or serve as a home value. Obtain market-rent and lease comps, closed-sale comps, insurance and seismic-condition evidence, and parcel hazard details; without them, gross-yield and exit-price conclusions remain untested.