So my thought moving forward is I was looking to acquire this first property in a small town in Northwestern Illinois that is about an hour and half drive from me (I live in the Western Suburbs of Chicago). 

things are looking up for us in Western NC. 

However most people don't realize that the western end of the valley (Palm Springs, Cathedral City, and Rancho Mirage) are also partly on Indian Reservation land, even though they are developed and there are a large number of homes on the indian land (leased land at a maximum of 65 years), including some mobile home parks. 

The highest volume wholesalers I think are Net Worth Realty and New Western Realty.

I recently moved to Morganton, NC. I am extremely new to the real estate game. I did flip the house I lived in in Augusta, GA for a huge return but I consider that to be a fluke, although it did give me enough cash to...

I moved 2200 miles to come back to Indiana from Calgary, AB Canada.It was a big move but the homes in western Canada are similar to your area -very over priced and won't cash flow.I always suggest looking within a few hours of your home to invest first.  

My name is Paul and I am a newbie from the western suburbs of Chicago where I live with my wife and daughter and am excited about getting started in real estate investing in my area. 

For example: could a home in the north-eastern corner of the Las Vegas addition pull comps from the north-western corner of Gatewood (assuming the homes are identical in terms of interior/rehab quality)?  

I'm 30,000 feet over the western United States right now, using the magic of in-flight wifi.

Might not be realistic in older cities, but I know those trends work well for cities in the western US.