185 Cotton Leaf Blvd

Summerville, SC 29486

$265,990D

3 bd · 2.5 ba · 1,386 sqft · Built 2025 · Townhouse · Pending · 9 DOM

Cashflow @ list (25.0% down · 7.5%)

• Estimated rent: $2,348/mo
• Mortgage (P&I): −$1,395
• Tax + insurance: −$443
• HOA: −$130
• Vac / Maint / Mgmt: −$493
• Net cashflow: $-113/mo
• Annual: $-1,360/yr
• Cap rate: 5.78%
• Cash-on-cash: -1.83%
• DSCR: 0.92
• 1% rule: 0.88%
• Cash to close: $74,477

Investor read

• This is a 3-bed/2.5-bath townhouse listed at $266k.
• At list price, monthly cash flow is $-113 ($-1k/yr) — negative.
• To cash-flow at today's rent, offer at most $250k (6.2% below list).
• To meet the 1% rule (rent ≥ 1% of price), the offer needs to be $235k (11.7% below list).
• Only 9 days on market — expect competitive offers; lowballing is unlikely to land.
• Recommended offer: $235k (11.7% below list) — sets the bar for 1% rule.
• Local home prices are declining (-3.0%/yr); year-one equity from $2k of loan paydown is wiped out by about $8k of value loss. Plan a longer hold.
• Location reads 63/100 on livability (#167 in SC) — a middle-class / working-renter tenant base. Strengths: housing A+, cost of living B+; Watch: amenities F, commute F, health & safety F.
• Berkeley 01 (suburban): math 35% / reading 48% proficiency, ranked #30 of 80 in SC (top 38%) — families likely to look elsewhere, expect single-tenant / working-renter base with shorter leases.
• Zoned schools: Whitesville Elementary (math 34% / reading 39%, grade F, #328 of 597 statewide, top 55%, 1,031 students, 62% FRL); Berkeley Middle (math 19% / reading 32%, grade F, #162 of 229 statewide, top 71%, 1,403 students, 57% FRL); Berkeley High (math 36% / reading 83%, grade C+, #110 of 196 statewide, top 58%, 1,776 students, 50% FRL).
• Market conditions: Rents rising (+2.7%/yr); 1283 active listings in the ZIP; 19 comparable units currently listed for rent nearby; rentals leasing fast (median 3d on market — plan ~1-2 weeks tenant-placement turnaround); solid renter incomes; 3,183 units permitted in Berkeley County in 2024 (580 in 5+ unit buildings).
• Berkeley County population projected at +48% by 2050 — long-run rental-demand tailwind backs the buy-and-hold thesis.
• Cap rate 5.8% vs local median 4.0% in Summerville — top-decile yield for the area; either an underpriced asset or a hidden risk that comps aren't pricing in. Stress-test before assuming the spread holds.
• This rent runs 31% of the median local income ($90k/yr) — at the standard rent-burdened threshold; future hikes will face affordability resistance.

Questions for listing agent

• What do current leases actually rent for vs. the listed asking? Can we see a recent rent roll and the last 12 months of T-12 income?
• What does the HOA fee cover, when was the last increase, and are there any pending special assessments or reserve-fund shortfalls?
• Is there a deadline driving the sale (1031 exchange, divorce, estate, relocation)? That informs how much negotiation room exists.
• Schools are B-rated — typically a magnet for longer-tenancy family renters. What's the average tenant stay here, and is there a school-zone premium baked into asking?
• The area grade is low — what's the realistic commute time and amenity access for the typical tenant pool here? Any planned neighborhood developments (good or bad) we should know about?
• What's the average days-on-market for RENTAL listings here right now (not sales)? A rising rental-DOM trend means longer vacancies and softer asking-rent achievability than the comps imply.
• What's the recent tenant-quality profile in this submarket — average credit score on applications, eviction rate, late-payment / NSF rate, and stable-employment percentage? A property-management company in the area should have these aggregated.
• How much new for-sale + rental construction is in the pipeline within 1–3 miles? Heavy new supply typically softens prices + rents 12–24 months out; constrained supply supports both.