Wholesale House Prices Memphis

Memphis counted about 633,104 residents in the 2020 census and is the seat of Shelby County. Inventory runs deepest in 38127, 38111 and 38117, so those ZIPs are the natural first stop for motivated sellers.

Therefore, open any ZIP to line its investing data up against other Memphis markets. Median listings come from Realtor.com for October 2026, and values from the Zillow Home Value Index for August 2026.

Gross rent yield equals the yearly median rent, 12 months of payments, over the median listing price; Memphis max offers assume repairs at 8% of the median price.

The housing stock is largely older single-family houses, many of them small brick or frame homes built in the decades after World War II, plus older and larger homes in Midtown neighborhoods such as Cooper-Young.

Areas such as Frayser, Whitehaven, and Orange Mound hold many modest homes that trade below the median. Condition varies widely from street to street, and vacant houses can suffer theft or vandalism, so recent photos and a walk-through matter before you set a price.

Comps in Memphis need care, because sale prices for similar houses can range widely depending on condition and street. Use sold renovated homes within a tight radius as your after-repair value.

Common repair items include roofs, HVAC, plumbing and electrical in older homes, foundation movement, and lead paint in houses built before 1978. Vacant homes often need extra work after copper theft or water damage, so budget for systems even when a house looks fine from the street.

For an example only, a house worth the median of $169,000 after repairs gives a 70 percent figure of $118,300. Subtract repairs, and the result is the most a flipper might pay.

Landlords often use a different test built on rent, which can let them pay more than a flipper for a house that needs little work. Run both calculations on every Memphis property so you know which buyer can pay the most and where to send it first.

Most Tennessee home loans use a deed of trust with a power of sale, so Memphis foreclosures typically happen without a lawsuit.

The trustee must run the notice of sale in a local newspaper at least twice, the first at least 20 days before the auction, and post it online for at least 20 continuous days. Mortgage documents often waive the statutory right to redeem after the sale, so for most owners the auction is final. Reach them in the short stretch between the first published notice and the auction date.

Delinquent property taxes in Shelby County end up in Chancery Court lawsuits that lead to tax sales.

After a sale, the owner usually has up to a year to redeem, shortened to 180 or 90 days when taxes went unpaid for longer periods, and as little as 30 days for some vacant property. The Shelby County Probate Court handles estates, and inherited houses with no mortgage are a steady source of below-market sales across the city.

Title companies close most Memphis home sales, and not every office will handle an assignment or a double close, so ask other investors which ones do.

Tennessee taxes the transfer at 37 cents per $100 of price, which on a $169,000 house comes to $625.30. The buyer customarily pays it, though the contract controls. New mortgage debt carries an additional tax of 11.5 cents per $100 above the first $2,000, which matters for buyers using hard money loans.

Tennessee’s broker definition reaches anyone who advertises or holds out as negotiating real estate deals for others for compensation. That is why careful Memphis wholesalers market only their contract position and say so in writing.

Many Memphis buyers live out of state, so state plainly what you are selling and whether you hold title. Since March 2025, Public Chapter 72 has required Tennessee wholesalers to disclose their equitable interest in writing to any assignee and to tell the seller of their intent to wholesale at least three days before assigning; have a Tennessee real estate attorney check your contracts.

Only 44.9 percent of Memphis homes are owner-occupied, so most households rent. Median gross rent is $1,181 a month, or $14,172 a year, which is about 8.4 percent of the median home value before expenses.

That ratio is much stronger than in pricier markets, and it explains why buy-and-hold landlords, including out-of-state investors and turnkey companies, are the main buyers of Memphis wholesale houses. Build your buyer list around them first.

Landlords care about rent, tenant demand, property taxes, insurance, and the cost to make a house rent ready. Flippers are active too, mostly in neighborhoods where renovated homes sell to owner-occupants at a clear premium.

With a median income of $51,736, retail buyers are price sensitive, so flip margins depend on tight rehab budgets. Know which buyers want rentals and which want resale, and send each group only the houses that fit their plan.

Memphis wholesalers who commit to finding, negotiating and closing deals can build lasting wealth and financial independence from steady volume.

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