When you are first getting started, you may find it easier to have contractors control all material purchase and pay the extra cost to get everything accurate and timely. 

The absolute best way to get an accurate ARV / comps is to reach out to a realtor.

And your gambling a LOT of $ on trying something out, via purchasing a property to try the waters.     

Good to know, I will put these ideas at the forefront of my thoughts.We are going to take a look at it Monday, with my Uncle who is a GC, so I think I will get more accurate numbers after that and reassess things from a conservative point of view.Thank you for your responses.

From my experience oakhusr is more reachable in winter months than other placesI have been in operation for a little over two years my first slow season was awful, I can’t really give you an accurate number but somewhere around 25-30%.

It's like gambling for them but will want a much higher pref and much higher equity upside from syndicator because of little to no track record.

Their comparable sales are almost always significantly inflated, and they lack the expertise to accurately budget for renovations.

Is this accurate? 

@Kenneth P Ford they are a national franchise with great marketing.They also have some national support for their individual franchises, but it all depends on the local team.Recommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

It is not legal advice and is not guaranteed to be accurate.