Advice on investing in Pittsburgh

[Reed Goossens]

I am an interstate investor (newbie) looking to begin my RE investment portfolio in Pittsburgh.

I flew to Pittsburgh last weekend to view some potential investments. I would like some feedback from other Pittsburgh investors/locals. I was shown around by a local property manager and I wanted to verify some of the information given to me.

1) 3bdrm properties, built 1920-1930's ranging $25K-$30K with some rehab work ('turnkey'), I was told rents could fetch $700+ per month. is this true? the two properties in question were in Pitcairn and the other on Estella ave.

2) As I was only in Pittsburgh for a day so it was difficult to gauge whether Pitcairn and Estella ave are places people want to rent. Any advice..?

3) With property prices so low how is the rental market? Properties are so cheap that people can just buy rather than rent.. any advice on this?

4) Typical expenses were quoted to me as: 15% (approx.) taxes, 8% insurances, 10% -13% utilities.... are these values typical of the area?

5) Can anyone recommend good property managers?

Any feedback/advice would be very much appreciated.

Happy investing.

Reed