Best sources for rent/real estate information

[Darryl Dahlen]

I'm looking for sources of information that cover real estate rents and property value trends. Ideally, I'd like a source that covers the different states by city, but if that's asking too much I can live with information that covers just the state.

This is to aid me in putting together information that will help investors looking to buy rental property (typically rented SFRs and town homes) in various states.

[J Scott]

Real estate is very local. A house in one neighborhood may rent for $600/month while a similar house a couple miles away may rent for $1000/month.

Things like schools, public transportion, amenities, etc impact market rents, so trying to evaluate market rents on a town, city or state level probably won't generate any actionable information.