ZIP 49098 Foreclosure, Tax-Lien & Distress Report

Scored purely from public records, 49098 (Berrien County, Michigan) returns a low composite of 21/100. Structural exposure scores 47 and live distress 2 on the 0–100 scale. Climate and flood risk are elevated too — climate & FEMA risk (77/100). The pressure is most legible in construction/permit lag (71/100), structural risk (47/100), institutional ownership (8/100). By contrast, institutional ownership (8/100) and mortgage stress (6/100) register low.

The expansion-phase market in 49098 posted values that rose 6.6% over the year, and 32% higher over three years (phase confidence 42/100). Appreciation rarely lifts every parcel — the laggards are the opportunity.

Population is roughly 5,791 with a median age of 39. DLRadar's demographic-stress index for the area reads 34/100. Vacancy runs 24.2%, above the national norm and a classic distress-and-opportunity signal. Educational attainment sits at 21% bachelor's-or-above. 74% of housing is owner-occupied. Median household income is $56,899, below the U.S. median near $78,000. A median home runs $164,200 here, or 2.6 times local income. There are about 3,137 housing units across 49098. 22.8% of residents fall below the poverty threshold. Around 54% of renters are cost-burdened.

On the whole, 49098 leans distressed, with opportunity clustered in specific stressed parcels. While 49098 carries no listed distressed parcels today, each signal above ties back to a public dataset on the same national scale.

The 49098 read uses the identical public-record model applied coast to coast, which means its 21/100 score means exactly what it means anywhere else, and 49098 stays directly comparable to neighboring ZIPs and the rest of Berrien County, Michigan. Nothing here is interpolated — where a source is thin for 49098, DLRadar leaves it blank rather than guessing, and re-scores as new records post.

49098's score blends several independent layers — foreclosure and mortgage stress, tax and lien delinquency, bank headwind and structural exposure — into one 0–100 number, so understanding the components matters as much as the headline for anyone screening the ZIP. For an operator, 49098 is step one - verify, pull the parcels driving the score, and move straight through to a funded close.