Understanding the current schedule for any and all inspections and what they may entail will keep you from getting blindsided. 

Michael, you assert an RE agent has no assets, tangible or intangible.  

I'm guessing the figures above are seller assertions, in which case you need to verify them with disinterested 3rd parties, such as a trusted appraiser or contractor. 

I have to find out more about town codes etc. as I'm not entirely sure what that would entail.

In the same way that my body still craves fats and sugars always, even though a glance at my waistline shows that it is not necessary to store up quickly-accessible energy, our minds and bodies do things to protect us even at a cost of our immediate thrival, and even when that need is outlivedThus my assertion that the primary reason that the masses don't clamor to all the locations that supposedly have a great ROI and few investors  is because the lack of "publicity leaders" who invest there seems to imply that there's something wrong with the market.  

This entails  extras fees( everyone needs to be paid) and tax consequences - both at the buy and sale on the roundtrip.

I think we could easily get our mortgage and expenses covered on the house through renting with money leftover to set aside for capital expenditures; but if we do rent, we will need to refinance given that we have PMI on our mortgage so we need to understand what that entails if we were to keep it. 

Not trying to discourage you, but trying to give you the reality of what wholesaling entails so that you can determine if its something that you can do with the time constraints you currently have.

3)   escrow holdback ...this would entail some of the sellers  proceeds being held by the  lender/ settlement agent and  then being  disbursed when work is completed ..this normally needs to be done within 30 days 

I am also planning to contact the Pittsburgh occupancy permit department to make sure what the process entails in order to allow occupancy from a duplex to triplex.