Comparable properties in the area are selling around $1.4m+, and every house in this neighborhood is selling over $1m+, so I figure there's a lot of wiggle room for profit if bought at the right price.My initial problem is that it requires a $100k deposit to join the auction, and starting bid is at $280k.

FHA may offer advantages for rehab situations or multifamily, but on single family it is a good idea to compare.

You might want to follow the "Deep Dive" series we're doing on our BiggerPockets blog about Metro Detroit cities, City of Detroit Neighborhoods and comparing Metro Detroit to other hotspots investors usually consider:https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Just tell them what you're comparing them to..This is assuming the data you presented above is the only data to be considered..Hope this helps a bit!

Makes it easier to compare apples to apples. 

I’m in the process of comparing term sheets from several lenders for a fix&flip deal in my area.

We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processesWe recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

How much more difficult is it finding a property manager in a rural area compared to one that’s built up?

Evaluate locations based on the ten years preceding the COVID times compared to the current inflation rate (>5%).Population Size - Greater than 1 million.

One of the easier ways to look at this comparing the interest rate on the refinance with the CoC return of the next property you will buy.