Bond County

Bond County sits at a median home price of $169,867 with year-over-year appreciation of 11.1%, which is the most immediately striking number in this data set. The county scores 77 on appreciation and 94 on affordability, but its cash flow score is 0, which tells you everything about where this market sits on the spectrum: this is an appreciation and affordability play, not a yield machine. Without a cap rate or gross rent multiplier available from the provided data, underwriting a cash-flow-positive deal here requires serious ground-level rent research before committing capital. What the appreciation score and affordability index of 94 do confirm is that entry prices are accessible relative to income, and the market has recently moved at a pace that rewards equity accumulation.

The investor this market suits is someone willing to accept thin or neutral near-term cash flow in exchange for low-cost entry and meaningful price appreciation. At $169,867 median, Bond is a market where a 20% down payment is roughly $33,973, keeping capital requirements modest and allowing an investor to scale into multiple doors without a large equity base. The 11.1% year-over-year price gain is real and worth underwriting, though one year of appreciation does not guarantee a trend. The national ranking of 74th out of 1,000 counties (91st percentile) and a state rank of 44th out of 102 Illinois counties suggests Bond punches above its weight for a county of 16,750 people. A value-add operator who can buy below median, force equity through renovation, and refinance into a stabilized asset will likely find the affordability index favorable for exit or tenant retention, but should not expect rent yields to carry the carry costs in the early hold period.

Illinois property taxes are a defining underwriting variable here, and Bond County demands that you put them at the top of your expense stack. The state-average effective rate is 2.27%, which the Tax Foundation classifies as very high, and at that rate a $169,867 purchase generates $3,856 in annual property tax alone. Combined with estimated annual insurance of $459, you are looking at $360 per month in tax and insurance before you factor in mortgage, maintenance, vacancy, or management. At a 6.85% interest rate on an 80% LTV loan, this is a meaningful drag. That $360 monthly carry figure deserves its own line on your underwrite and should anchor your minimum rent threshold before you model anything else. The caveat worth holding: 2.27% is a state-average estimate, and county and township rates in Illinois can vary materially from that figure, so pulling the actual Bond County tax bill on any target property is non-negotiable before closing.

The data does not include economic anchor employers or a local economy note for Bond County, so this analysis will not speculate on job base or demand drivers. What the stability score of 50 does signal is that this is not a high-conviction, anchor-economy market. A 16,750-person county has limited economic diversification almost by definition, and a score of 50 on stability is a yellow flag for investors who depend on steady occupancy to service debt. Tenant demand here is likely tied to a narrow set of local industries, and any contraction in the local employment base could pressure occupancy in ways a larger metro market would absorb more easily.

Compared to its neighbors, Bond at $169,867 sits in the middle of the pack on price. Pike County at $112,450 is the cheapest entry point among the five comparables and scores 75 overall, one point higher than Bond's 74, which may make it worth a closer look for pure affordability buyers. Shelby County at $156,256 and Livingston County at $160,375 both score 75 overall and come in cheaper than Bond, suggesting that if cash flow is the primary objective, those two deserve a side-by-side underwrite. Winnebago County at $195,413 median and a documented rent-to-price ratio of 0.0744 (roughly 7.4% gross yield) is the only neighbor with enough rent data to anchor a yield comparison, and its higher price point comes with better rent coverage than Bond's data currently supports. Woodford County at $220,926 and an overall score of 72 is the most expensive and lowest-rated neighbor, making it the hardest to justify on a pure numbers basis. Choose Bond over its neighbors when the 11.1% appreciation trend holds, when tax bills on a specific property come in below the state-average estimate, and when the investor's strategy is equity accumulation at a low entry cost rather than immediate cash-on-cash return.