Ross County

Ross County sits at a gross rent-to-price ratio of 6.11%, which translates to a cap rate of 3.97% once you run actual expenses through the model. At a 6.85% financing rate, the numbers go negative fast: a 20% down purchase at $201,557 leaves you with an estimated monthly cash flow of negative $389 and a cash-on-cash return of negative 10.07%. That is not a cash-flow market at current rates. What partially redeems the thesis is an appreciation score of 82 out of 100 and year-over-year price growth of 3.66%, which is meaningful in a county where the median home is still under $202,000. The affordability index of 87 and an overall national percentile rank of 78th out of 1,000 counties suggest this market is underpriced relative to peers, which is exactly the condition that precedes appreciation rather than yield compression.

The investor this county suits is someone buying for long-term appreciation and equity accumulation rather than day-one cash flow, or a value-add operator who can acquire below the $201,557 median, force equity through renovation, and push rents meaningfully above the $1,026 median. At $201,557, the entry price is low enough that a disciplined buyer who sources off-market at a 10-15% discount can change the math materially. A pure cash-flow buyer who needs the property to carry itself at today's rates will struggle here; the cap rate of 3.97% simply does not clear a 6.85% cost of capital. The stability score of 50 is the weakest reading in the scorecard, so this is not the market for an investor who needs predictable, low-variance income from day one.

The carry costs deserve direct attention before you finalize any underwrite. The combined monthly tax and insurance figure comes to $301, which is a line item that accounts for a meaningful share of the $359 in estimated monthly expenses. Ohio's state-average effective property tax rate is pegged at 1.56%, which the data flags as high, and at that rate you are looking at $3,144 in annual property tax on a $201,557 asset. That is worth its own line on your pro forma, not a rounding assumption. The caveat here is that 1.56% is a state-average estimate based on Tax Foundation 2024 data; actual rates at the Ross County or township level may differ, and you should pull the auditor's current millage rates before closing. Insurance adds another $464 annually at the modeled 0.23% rate, which is relatively contained compared to the tax burden.

On the risk side, the stability score of 50 is the number that demands scrutiny. It is the lowest sub-score in the dataset and sits below the midpoint, suggesting either economic concentration, population sensitivity, or demand volatility that the other scores do not fully capture. Ross County's population of 76,957 makes it a smaller market, which means tenant demand can move materially on the back of a single large employer or a cyclical shift. No economic anchors data was provided for this county, so it is not possible to name specific employers or assess job diversification from this dataset. What the numbers do support is that smaller Ohio markets with below-median stability scores warrant extra diligence on local employment composition before committing capital.

Compared to the neighboring counties in the dataset, Ross has a notably lower median home price than Erie ($228,638), Hancock ($229,447), Summit ($217,839), and Miami ($260,436), with only Richland ($187,141) coming in cheaper. However, Ross's rent-to-price ratio of 6.11% is lower than Erie (7.38%), Hancock (6.85%), and Summit (6.80%), meaning those counties offer better raw yield relative to purchase price despite higher sticker prices. Erie County in particular, with a ratio of 7.38% and an overall score of 70, looks more attractive on a pure income basis. The case for choosing Ross over its neighbors comes down to entry price and the appreciation score of 82, which is the specific data point that differentiates it from the comparison set. If your strategy is to buy the cheapest appreciating asset in the region and hold for five-plus years, Ross's combination of sub-$202,000 median pricing and 3.66% annual price growth gives it a reasonable argument. If you need the asset to generate income near breakeven from year one, Erie or Hancock deserve a closer look first.