There are not many properties for sale and the ones that are seen to be highly priced compared to the rents.

They all should be able to provide you a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis).  

I'm really trying to get my real estate investing  career off the ground. 

Probably not with a traditional turnkey provider who offers you the final product at a premium price, as many mentioned here already.I built my property management business by basically offering our service at a fixed cost, being the boots on the ground for the out of state or out of country investor.The basic approach is, you find a good local team that will find you the distressed property, rehab it for you, rent it for you, manage it for for you.

@Jay BedsworthThere are some advantages to the Solo 401(k) as compared to a comparable IRA. 

You can easily get a 60K foot view of a market by studying readily available economic and demographic trends but to really know the ground level nuances you need to spend some time in the market.

Donna Bauer has a great cours that is peanuts compared to what the expensive gurus charge and it will explain notes very well, as does Papersource University Online, good solid low cost education.Buying a performing note at the lowest price you can get it for is a good start on FCI, as they can service it for you and there is little work other than get paid back, unless they stop paying.

You are right, books are a good introduction but nothing beats talking to people and learning from the ground up. 

Can anyone compare and contrast SETH vs USDA?

Tenants may be paying a premium to get free utilities, in which case your rents may be overpriced when compared to other units paying their own utilities.