However, my realtor continues to focus on the prices of homes whose rehabs are not even comparable to mine.

I have yet to make my first investment and plan on focusing on buy and hold.

I work a lot with @John Warren who is part of 2nd City and the whole team is very knowledgeable and investor friendly...that is their primary focus.

Takes it off my plate and they can focus on their other 100000000 jobs. 

@Heather H.The resources you referenced focus on investing in a QOF, which appears to be a requirement of the law.

So you should be focused on staying disciplined to your investment criteria, whatever that may be.

We’re looking to get into buy and holds but it’s expensive here in State College so we’re focusing on Bellefonte and Philipsburg among a few other places.

Unless you're getting a screaming deal such that the extra $67/month won't put a dent in your return, I would just move on and look for another one.I focus on south city nearer to "the hill" which is relatively high ground.

I am a new investor who started off with a guru's basic course on real estate investing with a focus on wholesaling.

I think returns can, for the most part be universal....However, expected returns will differ even between states so I'd guess that's probably where most of the differences will come in to play....Also, the laws of the country you're investing in.Many books are more focused towards mindset.