DFW heat map · Simulated
A simulated map of where fund and flip buyers work in Dallas–Fort Worth.
Ninety-nine submarkets, scored by the desk on where single-family rental funds and flip desks have worked, as the desk reads the field. A simulated, illustrative index, updated by hand. Not transaction data. Tap a market for the band the funds buy in.
Institutional single-family rental buyers and build-to-rent desks.
Pick a submarket
Tap a circle, or a row below.
You get the simulated score for each buyer type, the price band funds buy in there, and the desk's read on why. Then run your file against that band in the buy box.
Top 15 · SFR rental funds
Text version of the map
| Market | County, band | Index | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forney | Kaufman County · $240K–$360K | 94 | Very high |
| Princeton | Collin County · $240K–$360K | 92 | Very high |
| Royse City | Rockwall/Hunt County · $240K–$360K | 92 | Very high |
| Anna | Collin County · $250K–$380K | 90 | Very high |
| Fate | Rockwall County · $260K–$380K | 90 | Very high |
| Fort Worth (north / Alliance) | Tarrant County · $260K–$400K | 88 | Very high |
| Melissa | Collin County · $280K–$420K | 86 | Very high |
| Aubrey | Denton County · $260K–$380K | 86 | Very high |
| Crowley | Tarrant County · $230K–$340K | 86 | Very high |
| Little Elm | Denton County · $280K–$420K | 84 | Very high |
| Lancaster | Dallas County · $200K–$320K | 84 | Very high |
| Burleson | Johnson/Tarrant County · $240K–$360K | 84 | Very high |
| Saginaw | Tarrant County · $240K–$350K | 84 | Very high |
| Red Oak | Ellis County · $230K–$340K | 84 | Very high |
| Glenn Heights | Dallas/Ellis County · $230K–$340K | 82 | Very high |
| Haslet | Tarrant/Denton County · $280K–$420K | 82 | Very high |
| Wylie | Collin County · $280K–$400K | 80 | Very high |
| DeSoto | Dallas County · $220K–$340K | 80 | Very high |
| Mansfield | Tarrant/Johnson County · $280K–$420K | 80 | Very high |
| Waxahachie | Ellis County · $240K–$360K | 80 | Very high |
| Mesquite | Dallas County · $200K–$320K | 78 | High |
| Sachse | Collin/Dallas County · $300K–$420K | 76 | High |
| Fort Worth (south / southwest) | Tarrant County · $200K–$330K | 76 | High |
| Crandall | Kaufman County · $230K–$330K | 76 | High |
| McKinney | Collin County · $280K–$450K | 74 | High |
| Grand Prairie | Dallas/Tarrant County · $220K–$350K | 74 | High |
| Lavon | Collin County · $250K–$360K | 72 | High |
| Garland | Dallas County · $220K–$340K | 72 | High |
| Cedar Hill | Dallas/Ellis County · $240K–$360K | 72 | High |
| Arlington | Tarrant County · $200K–$340K | 72 | High |
| Midlothian | Ellis County · $280K–$420K | 72 | High |
| Celina | Collin County · $320K–$450K | 70 | High |
| Justin | Denton County · $280K–$400K | 70 | High |
| Rowlett | Dallas/Rockwall County · $260K–$380K | 70 | High |
| Terrell | Kaufman County · $200K–$300K | 70 | High |
| Fort Worth (east) | Tarrant County · $160K–$280K | 68 | High |
| Denton | Denton County · $240K–$360K | 66 | High |
| Seagoville | Dallas County · $200K–$300K | 66 | High |
| Duncanville | Dallas County · $220K–$330K | 66 | High |
| Venus | Johnson County · $230K–$330K | 64 | High |
| Balch Springs | Dallas County · $180K–$280K | 62 | High |
| White Settlement | Tarrant County · $180K–$280K | 62 | High |
| Watauga | Tarrant County · $220K–$320K | 62 | High |
| Joshua | Johnson County · $230K–$330K | 62 | High |
| Allen | Collin County · $300K–$450K | 60 | High |
| Pilot Point | Denton County · $240K–$350K | 60 | High |
| Haltom City | Tarrant County · $180K–$280K | 60 | High |
| Kennedale | Tarrant County · $220K–$340K | 60 | High |
| Kaufman | Kaufman County · $200K–$300K | 60 | High |
| Ferris | Ellis/Dallas County · $200K–$300K | 60 | High |
| Godley | Johnson County · $240K–$340K | 60 | High |
| Farmersville | Collin County · $220K–$330K | 58 | Moderate |
| The Colony | Denton County · $300K–$420K | 58 | Moderate |
| Dallas (city) | Dallas County · $180K–$350K | 58 | Moderate |
| North Richland Hills | Tarrant County · $240K–$360K | 58 | Moderate |
| Everman | Tarrant County · $180K–$270K | 58 | Moderate |
| Alvarado | Johnson County · $220K–$320K | 58 | Moderate |
| Newark | Wise County · $240K–$340K | 58 | Moderate |
| Greenville | Hunt County · $190K–$290K | 58 | Moderate |
| Lewisville | Denton County · $280K–$400K | 56 | Moderate |
| Sanger | Denton County · $230K–$330K | 56 | Moderate |
| Benbrook | Tarrant County · $220K–$340K | 56 | Moderate |
| Rockwall | Rockwall County · $300K–$450K | 56 | Moderate |
| Rhome | Wise County · $240K–$350K | 56 | Moderate |
| Caddo Mills | Hunt County · $230K–$330K | 56 | Moderate |
| Krum | Denton County · $240K–$340K | 54 | Moderate |
| Irving | Dallas County · $240K–$380K | 54 | Moderate |
| Euless | Tarrant County · $240K–$360K | 54 | Moderate |
| Cleburne | Johnson County · $190K–$290K | 54 | Moderate |
| Frisco | Collin/Denton County · $380K–$550K | 52 | Moderate |
| Hurst | Tarrant County · $220K–$340K | 52 | Moderate |
| Forest Hill | Tarrant County · $160K–$250K | 52 | Moderate |
| Ennis | Ellis County · $190K–$290K | 52 | Moderate |
| Weatherford | Parker County · $230K–$350K | 52 | Moderate |
| Murphy | Collin County · $350K–$480K | 50 | Moderate |
| Carrollton | Denton/Dallas County · $280K–$400K | 50 | Moderate |
| Bedford | Tarrant County · $240K–$360K | 50 | Moderate |
| Azle | Tarrant/Parker County · $220K–$330K | 50 | Moderate |
| Prosper | Collin County · $400K–$550K | 48 | Moderate |
| Corinth | Denton County · $300K–$420K | 48 | Moderate |
| Richardson | Dallas/Collin County · $280K–$420K | 48 | Moderate |
| Farmers Branch | Dallas County · $260K–$380K | 44 | Moderate |
| Keller | Tarrant County · $360K–$500K | 44 | Moderate |
| Springtown | Parker County · $220K–$320K | 44 | Moderate |
| Plano | Collin County · $300K–$450K | 42 | Moderate |
| Roanoke | Denton County · $320K–$450K | 40 | Moderate |
| Decatur | Wise County · $220K–$320K | 40 | Moderate |
| Granbury | Hood County · $240K–$360K | 40 | Moderate |
| Grapevine | Tarrant County · $350K–$500K | 34 | Low |
| Aledo | Parker County · $380K–$520K | 34 | Low |
| Flower Mound | Denton County · $380K–$520K | 30 | Low |
| Sunnyvale | Dallas County · $450K–$700K | 30 | Low |
| Argyle | Denton County · $400K–$550K | 28 | Low |
| Coppell | Dallas County · $400K–$550K | 26 | Low |
| Addison | Dallas County · $300K–$450K | 20 | Low |
| Heath | Rockwall County · $500K–$800K | 20 | Low |
| Colleyville | Tarrant County · $550K–$900K | 12 | Minimal |
| Southlake | Tarrant County · $700K–$1.2M | 6 | Minimal |
| Highland Park / University Park | Dallas County · $1.5M–$3.0M | 4 | Minimal |
How this map is built
Each submarket gets two hand-scored indices from zero to one hundred: one for single-family rental funds and build-to-rent desks, one for flip and value-add cash buyers. The desk scores them from what it sees in the field: the share of post-2000 three- and four-bedroom stock, the price band funds will pay there, rent-to-price ratios, school districts, and where fund-owned rentals already cluster. The surface between circles is the strongest nearby score, faded over about five miles.
This is a simulation and an illustration. It is not MLS data, deed records, a count of closings, or investment advice, and it is not a statement about any specific buyer. Scores are revised by hand when the desk's read changes. Use it to pick where to hunt and what to send, then run the file through the buy box calculator before you lock it.
Data: the same 99 rows as JSON or CSV, with the simulated-index notice and the license disclosure inside each file.
Straight answers on the map
- Is this map real transaction data?
- No. It is a simulated activity index, scored by the desk from what it sees in the field: new-build inventory, the price band funds will buy in, rent-to-price ratios, school districts, and where fund-owned rentals already cluster. It is illustrative. It is not MLS data, deed records, or investment advice.
- Where are institutional buyers most active in DFW?
- On the desk's simulated index, the outer suburban ring with newer three- and four-bedroom stock in the $180,000 to $450,000 band, mostly $220,000 to $350,000: Forney, Fate, Royse City and Princeton to the east and northeast; Anna, Melissa, Aubrey and Little Elm to the north; Crowley, Burleson, Haslet, Saginaw and north Fort Worth to the west; Lancaster, Red Oak, Glenn Heights and Waxahachie to the south. The GAO counted about 30,000 institutional-owned homes in Dallas–Fort Worth in 2024, 9 percent of single-family rentals, and the largest owners were net sellers in 2025 and 2026.
- Where do funds not buy?
- Luxury and acreage markets like Highland Park, University Park, Southlake, Colleyville, Westlake and Heath, most condos and townhomes, stock older than about 1990, and rural towns outside a reasonable drive for a property manager. Those files go to flip desks or landlords instead.
- Does the 2026 federal institutional buyer ban change the map?
- Yes, for the largest owners. From January 7, 2027 the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act bars investors that control 350 or more single-family homes from buying more, outside exceptions such as build-to-rent. Smaller rental funds, local landlords and rehabbers are not covered, and they buy in the same rings. The index scores the ring pattern, not any one buyer.