Best way to decide on a purchase price

[Thomas Rodgers]

I have been struggling with finding ways to try and valuate houses while i am still trying to save money for the first investment. So far my plan is still to start with single family unless i can find a multi my family will approve of because i will be living in it for the first year to help get started sooner.

So far i have came up with ignoring the list price and finding out what a few other houses near the same neighborhood as a listed house on redfin or similar apps would rent for typically a 3/2 with rents ranging from $1k-$1500 and just googling some common expenses and thinking that taking 30% off the rent to get the NOI and dividing by a 7% cap to get a idea of what i can pay for a property. (Located between West Chester OH and Dayton OH)

I am wondering if thats an accurate way to value properties or a bad idea. Also wondering how to think about valuations when using owner occupied loans to get lower down payments knowing the cashflow could be low or nonexistent on most listings

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.