Scranton/WilkesBarre areas in Pennsylvania - lot of questions...

[Solongo Otgon]

Hi everyone -

I am looking for more info about Northeast Pa areas. I have been scouring the forums on these areas and wanted to ask the following question to get an idea for these areas:

1. Scranton/Wilkes Barre - working class, C+ neighborhoods with strong rental demand. But there were few people in the forums that warned against very old properties which will cut into repair and maintenance costs. Are houses and multis in these areas generally very outdated? Do investors do full rehabs or gut jobs just to get it up to top rent prices or are these rent prices set by the local market regardless of the condition of the property?

2. If rents can't be raised after rehabs; wouldn't it be difficult to resell the rental property after holding it?

3. Are single family homes mainly managed by large PM management companies or do investors have to find their personal pms for these units? I am out of NYC so I understand having a solid pm will be crucial.  If I like the areas and get multiples properties then perhaps it makes sense to have one pm manage all the properties.

4. I checked the local mls and see a lot of outdated multi units that seems to have pm in place; but how streamlined are these pms? As in communication, rental collection systems, etc?

5. Lastly, how do SFH and Multi Units differ in these areas? Are SFH more rentable in these areas or multi units are favored by the local residents?

Any info on these are greatly appreciated. I am looking for do my first deal out of state for buy and hold cash flow and my budget is around 100k all cash. I am currently working on my strategy so I can continue to grow even after my first deal. Thanks