Delaware County

Delaware County prices out most cash-flow strategies at first glance. The median home price sits at $515,396, producing a gross rent-to-price ratio of 0.039, which translates to a 2.5% cap rate at market rents of $1,656 per month. Run a conventional underwrite at 6.85% on an 80% LTV loan and the monthly mortgage alone hits $2,702. Add estimated expenses of $580, subtract rent, and you're looking at negative $1,626 per month in cash flow and a cash-on-cash return of -16.46%. Year-over-year home price growth of 1.12% is modest in absolute terms, so Delaware is not compensating for the cash-flow deficit with explosive appreciation either. This is a market positioned toward the appreciation end of the spectrum, but without the price velocity to make speculative carrying costs easy to justify. The overall score of 41 out of 100, a national percentile of 5, and a state rank of 69 out of 88 Ohio counties are all telling you the same thing: this is one of the more expensive, investor-hostile counties in the state.

The profile here suits a long-hold, equity-accumulation buyer rather than a cash-flow operator or a value-add investor looking for near-term returns. An appreciation score of 61 is the one bright spot in an otherwise difficult set of numbers, suggesting that price trajectory has historically been more favorable than the wider national pool. But with an affordability index of 26 and a stability score of 50, the pool of renters who can afford market-rate product at $1,655 per month is not bottomless, and the market is not unusually insulated from economic disruption. A cash-flow buyer should avoid Delaware outright: there is no plausible path to positive cash flow at a $515,000 acquisition price and a 6.85% rate without a substantial rent premium or a deep discount to market on purchase price. A value-add operator would need to find below-market acquisitions and push rents meaningfully above the county median just to get to breakeven, which is a tougher lift in a higher-priced, lower-inventory suburban county than in a distressed urban market.

The tax and insurance carry costs deserve explicit attention before any underwrite is finalized. At Ohio's state-average effective property tax rate of 1.56%, a $515,396 purchase generates an estimated $8,040 in annual property taxes, and insurance at 0.23% adds another $1,185, for a combined monthly tax-and-insurance burden of $769. That figure is included in the $580 estimated expense line and contributes directly to the -$1,626 cash-flow shortfall. The 1.56% rate carries a "high" flag, meaning it should appear as its own line on any underwrite rather than getting buried in a blended expense ratio. The caveat that matters: 1.56% is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county and township rates in Delaware can differ, sometimes materially, so pull the parcel-level tax bill before closing on any specific address.

The comparative picture makes Delaware's limitations clearer. Franklin County, directly to the south and the home of Columbus, has a median home price of $288,459, a rent-to-price ratio of 0.061, and an overall score of 59 versus Delaware's 41. Licking County, to the east, comes in at $327,794, a rent-to-price ratio of 0.060, and an overall score of 60. Both neighbors produce materially better gross yields and score 18 to 19 points higher overall, which means an investor dollars away from Delaware's border has two credible alternatives that deliver stronger cash-flow metrics at roughly 55-63 cents on the dollar in acquisition cost. Ottawa County scores 57 overall at a median price of $265,986, and Vinton County scores 61 at $172,686, though neither includes rent data in this dataset to confirm yield characteristics. The case for choosing Delaware over any of these alternatives comes down to one argument: you believe the county's demographic profile, driven by its position as a wealthy Columbus suburb with a population of 216,074, will produce above-average price appreciation over a 10-plus year hold that compensates for years of negative carry. That is a legitimate thesis, but it is a thesis you need to stress-test explicitly against your holding period, your cost of capital, and your liquidity tolerance, not one that the current numbers validate on their own.