If you're seeing more price points that are higher than the norm typically it means that either the market is shifting gradually up or that there's multiple people involved in that deal "chain" before it gets to you and everyone is adding their markup.My advice would be to attend a few local meetups to brush shoulders with other investors to pick their brain about whats working in your market AND to start marketing direct to sellers instead of trying to get the deals from wholesalers. 

Id love to pick your brain and go into more detail about my situation.Thank you all so much in advance for taking time out of YOUR day to help me :)-Andrew

This property is in a great area for me in North Arlington (great schools, stones throw away from a huge community park, and close to I30), and the plan is to live in it for a year or so before renting it out (I’m sure I’ll be picking your brains when the time comes!). 

Staffing is what will cause me to bang my head into the wall and cause a brain injury. 

I know personally when im looking for a place to stay if its a little more pricey my brain usualy jumps to "oh this place must be better than the others" since this is a heavy market for vacation rentals and not traveling professionals I could see that being a factor but it makes it very difficult to price and what price point to risk.

*********************************Here's some additional appraiser brain droppings, not included in the "brief response".Assess the important characteristics of the Subject property, in relation to the market.

You cannot compare the amount of brains, experience, and education that is required to be a doctor.

You may network, meet other investors, and pick the brains of special guest speakers by going to these events.Make Use of the Marketplace: Look through the BiggerPockets Marketplace to locate possible partnerships, offers, or services that will help you along the way as an investor.Stay Active: When it comes to networking, consistency is essential.

It was really hard for me to understand him and really hard for him to understand me, and overall I felt like Anderson had a stroke and the funding and LLC hemispheres of the Anderson brain do not connect. 

These gatherings offer great chances to network, meet other investors, and pick the brains of seasoned pros.Join Online communities: Think about participating in online groups and forums devoted to real estate investing in addition to neighborhood get-togethers.