Hey buddie, good to hear that you're gonna be starting your own stuff. As far as what you should loook for in a compressor, you should look at the horse power and the tank size. You should get one with a decent horse power so that you can run other tools beside your spray gun. I think 4 to 5 hp will be fine. You want a tank that's big enough to hold adequate amont of air so that it doesn't run out of air too often. Obviously, you don't want one that's too big if you are working at home...maybe 21 gallons or so? There is a place you should check out called Harbor Freight. Their compressors are cheap and comparable to that of Sears. Good luck.