Washington County’s decision tension is that a measured gross yield can be underwritten only against a listing market showing more visible choice and concessions. Rental operators who can verify unit-level costs should investigate; buyers reliant on quick resale should be cautious. Zillow’s later county median home value was $264,469 and was higher year over year. FHFA’s annual repeat-transaction HPI also rose 1.48%, while its five-year cumulative gain was 62.26%. The methods and vintages differ: the HPI confirms direction, not a home value or a rate to combine with Zillow.
Median asking rent was $1,304 per month, producing the supplied 5.92% gross yield before vacancy, repairs, insurance, financing and taxes. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR of $1,044 per month is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate; it cannot replace market rent. The effective property-tax rate was 0.50%, a carrying-cost input. The record does not publish operating expenses, vacancy, rent by bedroom or lease-up evidence, so net yield and a specific asset’s cash flow cannot be calculated.
Realtor.com’s MLS evidence is a listing market, not closed-sale proof. The active count was 189, up 29.01% year over year, and 26.45% of listings had price reductions; together these warrant testing resale liquidity and seller concessions rather than inferring buyer demand. Migration was positive by 69 tax-return households, but incoming movers’ average AGI trailed outgoing movers’ by $3,341, limiting that demand signal. Investors accounted for 43 of 489 purchases, or 8.79%, indicating non-owner competition but not its effect on rents or prices.
The dominant hazard is inland flood, and modeled expected annual building-value loss is 0.10%; that ratio is not a dollar loss and needs address-level flood exposure, insurance availability and deductible checks. QCEW measures annual covered employment at county workplaces, not resident employment, unemployment or a forecast; its average wage is likewise a covered-worker average. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Missing closed-sale, unit-level rent, insurance, vacancy and property-condition evidence prevents a defensible exit-price, net-income or hazard-cost conclusion.