Need some guidance in small town

[Brian Humphrey]

I live in Wheeling, WV. Small town in a small state. Going Thursday to a bank and start from that I can get pre-approved for. I am leaning towards starting with duplex or triplex for my first buy and hold. The are averaging from what I see is 30,000-70,000. Now where could I look for all the information I need, like average rents, incomes, etc. that I would need. I will have to say because of the gas a lot of people jacked the prices through the roof I have noticed a lot of complaints where normal people can't pay for 1200-1500 rent so I feel a market for fairness. I have a decent job which every 4-5 months I'll be getting a 5% raise. I don't have a lot of funds on hand. So I will probably have to find some private money down the road. Another question I have is we don't have cookie cutter neighborhoods. And no subdivision so I'm having trouble finding the right info on what I should be paying also. I have looked for investing groups, we have none close enough that I can find. Do I need to set up a business when I do find a deal to put in a trust or anything along those lines? Need a little bit of guidance. Please and thank you