Starting out in Lake Charles, LA

[Copeland Duhon]

My wife and I have started the investing process. We have $30,000 and are currently looking for our first property. We have looked at countless properties, but the numbers never seem to work out. Our biggest challenge so far has been trusting the comps. The comps we are getting do not seem to match up with the current state of the market. We understand that you can't really go off of active properties, but when comps are coming back at $150,000 ARV and there are multiple active remodeled houses in the area that have been on the market for over 100 days at just above $100,000 it makes us really nervous. How do we overcome this? Do we just ignore active properties and trust the comps from realtor?

[Alex G.]

Originally posted by @Copeland Duhon:

 Do we just ignore active properties and trust the comps from realtor?

Absolutely not.  Realtors are out to earn a commission.  The more you pay for a property, the more they earn.