Wells County

Wells County prices its median home at $255,357, up 4.4% year-over-year, in a state where neighboring counties often sit well below that mark. Without rent and cap rate figures in the provided data, the cash-flow picture cannot be fully closed out here, but the appreciation score of 84 out of 100 and the affordability index of 75 tell a coherent story: this is a market that has been moving on price while still sitting below the national median, which creates a useful entry window for buyers who expect continued appreciation rather than immediate yield. The overall score of 71 places Wells in the 82nd percentile nationally out of 1,000 counties tracked, and 35th out of 92 Indiana counties, so this is not a hidden gem in need of discovery, it is a county the data already rates well.

The 84 appreciation score is the dominant signal here. A buyer running a long-hold, equity-accumulation strategy, someone who tolerates modest early cash flow in exchange for price compounding, fits this market more cleanly than a pure cash-flow operator. The affordability index of 75, combined with a $255,357 entry price, means the cost of ownership has not yet run so far ahead of incomes that demand is at risk, which is a prerequisite for sustained appreciation. The stability score of 50 is the honest counterweight: it is middling, which means an investor relying on this county for predictable, recession-proof rent rolls should size that risk carefully. Value-add operators looking for distressed-buy-and-renovate plays will find prices have already moved, making spread compression on the back end a real concern.

No economic anchors or employer data were provided for Wells County, so no conclusions about job concentration or institutional demand drivers can be drawn from this dataset. An investor conducting full diligence should pull employer concentration data independently, particularly given the stability score of 50, which warrants understanding whether the local economy is tied to a single industry or a diversified base before committing capital.

On carry costs, the combined monthly tax and insurance estimate lands at $241, using a state-average effective property tax rate of 0.85% and an insurance rate of 0.28%. That is $2,886 per year sitting on top of a mortgage before a single maintenance dollar is spent. The 0.85% tax rate carries a "normal" flag, meaning it is not a meaningful headwind compared to high-tax states, but worth noting that this figure is a state-average estimate as reported by the Tax Foundation (2024), and actual Wells County or township rates may differ, sometimes materially. At a 6.85% financing rate on an 80% LTV purchase of $255,357, the monthly mortgage payment is a significant cost center; investors should run their own amortization on that $204,286 loan balance before assuming any cash-flow margin exists.

The primary risk visible in this data is the stability score of 50 against a population of just 28,167. Small, rural Indiana counties with limited economic data transparency can experience outsized vacancy swings when a single employer contracts or a demographic trend accelerates outmigration. There is no vacancy or crime data in the provided dataset to quantify this further, but the small population base alone means a landlord holding ten units in Wells County is meaningfully exposed to local-specific shocks in a way that a similar portfolio in a 200,000-person metro is not.

The neighbor comparison is instructive. Saint Joseph County (South Bend metro area) trades at $214,936 with a rent-to-price ratio of 0.0744, and Vigo County trades at $156,114 with a ratio of 0.0724. Both of those gross yield figures are materially better starting points for a cash-flow buyer than what Wells County's price of $255,357 implies at similar Indiana rent levels. Fountain County at $185,369 and a rent-to-price of 0.0614 rounds out the lower end, showing that lower price does not automatically mean better yield. Wells beats its neighbors on the appreciation score (84 vs. an overall score of 71 across all listed neighbors) and sits roughly in line on overall score, which means the trade-off is explicit: you pay more per door in Wells for a better price-growth outlook and give up the gross yield advantage that Saint Joseph or Vigo offer. Choose Wells when your underwrite assumes continued price appreciation and you are comfortable accepting a thinner initial yield; choose Saint Joseph or Vigo when the monthly cash-flow column needs to work from day one.