If they are VERY professional, they will have their processes in writing as verification that policies are enforced equally and fairly by their entire staff.6.

We need to make ourselves available to conduct showings, hold in-person and phone meetings, write contracts, coordinate inspectors, appraisers, attorneys, etc, negotiate contracts and pricing, coach people on the process and do what we can to present the home in a way - whether in photos and in-person - so that it will sell in a reasonable amount of time at a fair price. 

Hi there from another Pittsburgher,Yes you'll want to get an appraisal done now, specifically so you can figure out what your stepped up basis is and then that way your brothers and you know you all got a fair deal.Second, take a good look at what you need to do to rent it versus what you would like to do. 

Every time I enter into an agreement to purchase I have the following: Exclusive irrevocable possession and occupancy shall be delivered to Buyer, Buyer’s Assignees, or Buyer’s Agents at 5:00 PM on  the date this agreement is signed by Seller,  on the date of Close of Escrow,  on ________________, 20______ or  no later than ___________ days after Close of Escrow.I have collected my fair share of cash for keys in SS where the lender tries playing God.  

I have an off-market deal that seems fairly promising to be mine—wanted to reach out and get opinions on the rental market there.

@Seth Baumgartner, I live in Cincinnati, still own (now) one rental, but had more, have done about a dozen or so flips in the area over the years, here is my take.I am fairly risk adverse, so I don't venture into neighborhoods I don't know inside and out.  

Noted on the units too, ideally a nice 4plex would be the best case scenario but as you mentioned anything is better from a financial perspective than paying the amount in rent I am currently.This market could cash flow pretty well at 20% down if i find the right property as the prices are below national average and rents are actually fairly good in comparison to property prices (plenty of 1% opportunites on SFH with a minimal cosmetic TLC). 

Hot water is usually separated it is just the cold water that is often not.For a very large building a flat fee is the move because the back billing and tracking of who paid for what would be hectic, but for a small MF like a duplex it is very easy.I split the bill by the fractional amount of people who live in the unit.In other words, the amount of people that live in the unit divided by the total amount of people living in the builidng.So if there are 3 people upstairs and 2 people downstairs.the upstairs pays 3/5 of the bill, and downstairs pays 2/5.No need to separate anything, you know the tenants will cover 100% of the bill and this approach is fair. 

It was a fairly nice house, somewhat dated but in good condition. 

Always run title to check for any clouds, try not to gamble on super small tracts of land like this unless confident in own title searching capabilities.