Rental Value Websites

[Brian Olson]

Hello, 

I'm just getting started in real estate investing and live in the Washington DC area. I'm interested in taking advantages of the more realistic home prices in the midwest, however I'm having a difficult time gauging what criteria to use to evaluate deals. I'm a technology guy, so I've looked for some niche website that does the heavy lifting for me and found things like ZilPy, rentometer, rentfax, etc. I'm really looking for something to do the first take on a property so I don't spend time digging into deals that are no good from the beginning due do the neighborhood profile or other factors. 

My question: Does anyone put any faith in tools like this? Or is one any more accurate than the other? Or do you just recommend doing everything manually? Thanks!

Brian