Long-Term Rentals · Market playbook

Buying Rental Properties in Columbus, OH

Buying rentals in Columbus is a 7.02% gross yield play at a $249k median entry — $1,456/mo rent gross before expenses. The math has to clear before the property does.

DATA · Zillow Research (via scrape.do) · AS OF APRIL 2026

Strong 83/100

Columbus is one of the better buy-and-hold rental markets in the country right now.

TL;DR — data signals

→ Gross yield 7.02% — above national baseline
→ Rent $1,456/mo vs. national $1,930 — rent-weak
→ Cash flow expectation at 25% down / 7.5%: $200-400/door positive
→ Appreciation: flat — neutral

Long-term rentals in Columbus sit at the intersection of two numbers: typical home value $248,749 and median rent $1,456/mo. That's a 7.02% gross yield — well above the national 4-5% baseline. Cash flow does most of the heavy lifting here, with appreciation as a bonus.

Run the cash-flow math. Assume 20-25% down on a 30-year conventional rental loan at 7.5%, plus taxes + insurance + 8% property management + 8% vacancy/maintenance reserve + 8% capex reserve. At those inputs you should clear $200-400/door positive cash flow on a well-bought property in Columbus. The numbers work without heroic assumptions.

Rent demand context: Columbus rents ($1,456) run 25% below the national median ($1,930). Rent is the constraint — operational discipline matters more than acquisition skill here.

Appreciation thesis: Columbus home values are -0.6% YoY. Flat appreciation. Returns come from cash flow + pay-down + tax benefits, not price growth. Underwrite to that reality.

Net: Columbus is a viable buy-and-hold rental market — yield does the work, appreciation is a bonus.

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Columbus at a glance