How to determine comps in a rural area

[Mekyla Tilley]

Hey so I'm brand new to the real estate investing world and I have a property that I want to BRRRR. The seller is motivated, but it's in a rural area and I'm not sure how to get the comps. Most of these homeowners own their homes in full and have for some time, so how can I determine what's a good rental price if there are no rentals in that area?

Should just I not invest there? Should I look further out to areas that do have rentals and use those for comps? What should I do?

[Anthony Dooley]

Rural property can be a great investment because of scarcity. If someone wants to rent in that area and you are the only thing available, you can create the market. What I do is estimate what I think it would rent for based on what others are paying in the area. This is not going to be found online. You have to actually talk to people. I use rent x 60 as a maximum offer price. Then I subtract any major repairs needed to get it rented. That is the offer, that is the sale price. For me, that  is what I do in rural areas. I have had people offer more than asking for rent because they "needed" to be in that area and nothing else was available to rent.