Washington County presents a low-entry-price but unresolved income and liquidity case: properties merit investigation only where rents, insurance and condition can be verified; unsupported cash-flow assumptions warrant caution. Zillow’s county observation places median home value at $116,189, up 0.49% year over year. FHFA’s annual repeat-transaction HPI instead declined 2.93% year over year. These observations use different methods and vintages, so they must not be merged into an appreciation rate; neither provides a property-level closed-sale comp.
No county market rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $925 per month is a payment standard, not asking rent, and cannot be substituted for it. The 0.99% effective property-tax rate is a carrying-cost input, but price and tax do not identify an income spread without market rent. Insurance, maintenance, vacancy, assessed value and property condition are likewise unpublished, preventing a net-cash-flow conclusion.
Annual QCEW covered employment at county workplaces declined 1.06%; this is not resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast. Manufacturing is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the entire economy. Realtor.com’s MLS listing market shows 33 active listings, 85 median days on market, 7.69% of listings price-reduced, and a 30.77% pending-to-active ratio. Those are visible supply, seller-concession and marketing-time evidence, rather than closed-sale prices or proof of buyer demand. Net migration was negative 41 tax-return households despite a calculated $2,397 inbound-over-outbound mover-income gap; the combination does not establish household demand or tenant depth.
Hurricane is the dominant hazard, with modeled expected annual climate loss equal to 0.47% of building value. This model must be checked against the site, elevation, coverage terms and deductible rather than treated as an insurance quote. The record reports 2 investor purchases among 67 total purchases, a 2.99% investor share; this mortgage-purchase measure does not identify cash buyers or their strategy. Obtain market rent, property-level insurance and flood exposure, closed-sale comps, lease-up/vacancy evidence and repair scope before judging yield, resilience or an exit price.