Fayette County

Fayette County sits at a median home price of $139,740 and median rent of $856, producing a rent-to-price ratio of 7.35%. That ratio places it squarely in cash-flow territory by conventional thresholds, though the model underwrite tells a more complicated story. At 6.85% financing on an 80% LTV purchase, the monthly mortgage alone runs $733, and with $300 in estimated expenses added, total outflows exceed gross rent by $176 per month. The resulting cash-on-cash return is -6.57% on a levered basis. The unlevered picture is meaningfully better: a 4.78% cap rate on a sub-$140K asset is a real number, not a rounding error, and it reflects genuine yield relative to price. Appreciation has been modest, with home prices up 3.91% year-over-year, and the county scores 83 out of 100 on appreciation, which is high enough to take seriously even if the absolute dollar gains are small at this price point. Fayette lands in the 93rd national percentile across 1,000 counties ranked, and fifth in West Virginia out of 55, which signals that on a relative basis this market competes well even if the headline cash flow at current rates is negative.

The financing environment is the central underwriting problem here. A buyer who needs a conventional 30-year mortgage at 6.85% will be cash-flow negative by roughly $176/month at these rents and this purchase price. That makes Fayette most useful to three specific buyer profiles: the all-cash or low-leverage buyer who can acquire at or near the cap rate yield, the value-add operator targeting distressed assets below $139K with rent upside through renovation, and the appreciation-oriented buyer who wants a very low entry price in a market that has been trending upward. It is not the market for an investor who needs immediate levered cash flow at current interest rates. The affordability index of 100 and a perfect affordability score of 100 out of 100 confirm that purchase prices are near the floor nationally, which limits downside risk on valuation but does not by itself solve the debt-service math.

Tax and insurance carry costs are a genuine tailwind here. The combined monthly tax and insurance figure is $99, based on a state-average effective property tax rate of 0.59% and an insurance rate of 0.26% applied to the median purchase price. That rate is low by national standards, and it deserves explicit credit in any underwrite because it is one of the few line items that pulls in the investor's favor when debt service is working against them. To be clear, this is a state-average estimate from Tax Foundation 2024 data, and actual county or township rates in Fayette may differ, so confirm the specific millage before closing. Still, if your underwrite assumes $99/month for tax and insurance combined, you are starting from an accurate baseline rather than a conservative one that inflates costs.

The stability score of 50 out of 100 is the number that demands the most scrutiny. Fayette County has a population of roughly 40,500, and West Virginia broadly has faced long-run demographic pressure from outmigration and economic transition away from extraction industries. No economic anchors or employer data were provided for this county, which means there is no institutional demand driver, no major employer, and no university or military installation on record here that would anchor rental demand. That absence is itself informational. Investors who need confidence in occupancy over a five- to ten-year hold need to do ground-level diligence on local employment and population trends that this data set does not resolve.

Compared to its neighbors, Fayette's case is competitive on price and rent-to-price ratio. Ohio County prices at $154,458 with a 7.55% rent-to-price ratio and an overall score of 74, essentially a toss-up with Fayette's 75 but at a $15K premium. Kanawha County has the most interesting rent-to-price ratio in the comparison set at 8.66% on a $149,776 median, and it scores 73 overall, slightly below Fayette, though that ratio suggests better levered cash flow potential for a buyer who prioritizes income now. Preston County comes in cheaper at $133,414 and scores 76, marginally higher than Fayette, making it worth a direct comparison if price minimization is the primary objective. Taylor County at $185,741 is the most expensive neighbor and scores 73, the lowest in the group, which makes it the hardest to justify in this rate environment. Nicholas County at $158,409 and a score of 73 offers nothing clearly differentiated. Choose Fayette over its neighbors when the combination of sub-$140K entry price, a 4.78% cap rate, and that low tax-and-insurance carry cost aligns with an all-cash or low-leverage strategy, and when you have done independent work to satisfy yourself that local rental demand is durable enough to support the stability score the data flags as a concern.