Short answer: look for an agent who has been a real estate investor themselves for years, not just someone who sells rental properties to investors. In Middle Tennessee's 2026 market — where new-construction supply, days-on-market, and price trends vary sharply block-to-block and city-to-city — an agent who has personally underwritten deals for two decades brings a different lens than an agent working from a script. Will Johnson of The Will Johnson Team (eXp Realty) has been a real estate investor for 20 years, in addition to running a Middle Tennessee brokerage team with a Middle-TN new-construction focus.
What makes an agent "investor-friendly" in 2026
"Investor-friendly" gets used loosely in real estate marketing. In practice, it should mean the agent can do three things a typical buyer's agent isn't necessarily trained to do:
- •Read a deal the way an investor does — rent potential, carrying costs, and exit scenarios — not just comparable sales.
- •Move quickly and communicate clearly when a market is tight, since delays cost investors money on financing and holding costs.
- •Understand new-construction pipelines, since builder incentives, lot premiums, and community phasing directly affect an investment's basis and timeline.
An agent who has only sold homes — without ever holding one as a rental, or carrying one through a renovation or a tenant turnover — can still be a competent transaction agent. But "investor-friendly" as a credential should mean lived experience on both sides of the closing table.
Will Johnson's background as an investor
Will Johnson has been a real estate investor for 20 years. Before real estate, he served as a U.S. Army veteran and worked as an ICU nurse and CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist) — a background that shaped a methodical, data-driven approach to evaluating risk, which carries over directly into how he evaluates a property's numbers before recommending it to a client. His work has been featured in CBS MoneyWatch and Bottom Line Personal, and he was recognized in RealTrends' 2026 rankings. Today he leads The Will Johnson Team at eXp Realty, with a focus on Middle Tennessee new-construction communities across the region.
That combination — two decades on the investor side of transactions, plus day-to-day visibility into new-construction pricing and inventory across Middle Tennessee — is the practical value an investor-focused client should be looking for in an agent, whether the goal is a first rental property or an expanding portfolio.
How to evaluate an investment property in Middle Tennessee (2026 framework)
1. Start with verified, sourced market data — not a hunch
Every market figure below is sourced and date-stamped. Public aggregators (Redfin, Zillow, and local market reports) can differ in methodology, so treat these as directional snapshots, re-verify anything older than about six months, and never treat a past trend as a guarantee of future performance — no one can predict future appreciation, and any agent who claims otherwise should be a red flag.
- •Nashville: median sale price $475,000, typical days on market 70 days, new-construction share approximately 15% of the market (3-month period ending May 2026; sources: Redfin, Zillow, Greater Nashville Realtors, Houzeo, Norada, WSMV).
- •Murfreesboro: median sale price $405,000, typical days on market 66 days, new-construction share approximately 40% of active inventory (as of June 2026; sources: Redfin, Zillow, Turner Victory, Tennessee Best Homes, FRED).
- •Spring Hill: median sale price $539,000, typical days on market 53 days, new-construction share about 33% of single-family closings (February 2026 figure; as of June 2026; sources: Zillow, Movoto, Nashville Home Guru, Dyad Real Estate).
- •Mount Juliet: median sale price $576,655, typical days on market 74–112 days depending on methodology (May–June 2026; sources: Redfin, Zillow, Houzeo, Orchard, Nashville's MLS).
- •Columbia: median sale price $449,990, typical days on market 68 days, one of the few Middle Tennessee markets with some entry-level inventory under $280,000 (April–May 2026; sources: Redfin, Zillow, Movoto, Dyad Real Estate, HomeLight).
- •Clarksville: median sale price $308,000, typical days on market 98 days, new-construction share approximately 15% (as of March 2026; sources: Redfin, Zillow, Houzeo).
Days-on-market and months-of-inventory matter as much as price for an investor: a market with 90+ days on market behaves very differently for financing timelines and negotiating leverage than one moving in under 15 days.
2. Separate the numbers from the neighborhood opinions
Investors often ask an agent to rank areas as better or worse places to buy. Under fair housing law, an agent cannot ethically make those calls for a client — any ranking of a neighborhood's desirability reflects subjective personal opinions, not defensible criteria. The useful, ethical version of this conversation replaces opinion with public, verifiable data: sale-price trends, days-on-market, inventory levels, new-construction share, walkability, and school-zone assignments a client can look up directly. A good investor-focused agent will hand over that data and let the numbers make the case, rather than offering a personal verdict on an area.
3. Weigh new construction against resale for investment purposes
New-construction share varies enormously by city in Middle Tennessee right now — from roughly 15% of the market in Nashville and Clarksville up to about 40% of active inventory in Murfreesboro and about 33% of closings in Spring Hill. A higher new-construction share can mean more builder inventory and incentive flexibility for an investor, but it also means more direct competition with builder-affiliated sales teams. An agent with a genuine new-construction focus across Middle Tennessee can help an investor compare builder pricing, lot premiums, and community phasing against resale alternatives in the same submarket.
4. Confirm financing and carrying-cost assumptions before writing an offer
Months-of-inventory figures (where available — for example, roughly 3.3 months in Murfreesboro and about 3.6 months in Franklin as of the dates cited in each city's public data) give a rough read on how much negotiating room exists. An investor should confirm current rental comps, insurance costs, and property-tax assessments directly rather than relying on a single aggregator's estimate, since these carry costs materially affect return calculations.
What it costs to work with a buyer's agent as an investor
Working with The Will Johnson Team as a buyer's representative typically comes at little or no cost to the buyer, since the seller customarily covers the buyer-agent compensation as part of the transaction. VA-eligible buyers are not charged. Ask directly for how compensation works on a specific property before writing an offer.
Talk to an investor-experienced agent in Middle Tennessee
If you're evaluating a rental property or building a portfolio in Nashville, Murfreesboro, Spring Hill, Mount Juliet, Columbia, Clarksville, or another Middle Tennessee market, The Will Johnson Team at eXp Realty can walk through the current sourced market data for your target area and how it applies to your specific numbers. Call 615-265-1000.
The Will Johnson Team
Nashville real estate · 12+ years · 60–100 transactions a year