From my experience the first team member to recruit will be a local Project Manager-someone who wants to help you long term as your eyes in the field and boots on the ground. 

But, the profit margins look to be eye-popping, sometimes on the order of 10X or better.

Most owners are local and therefore “hot” money or out of area players are not yet chasing Pittsburgh assets, keeping prices favorable.References United States Census Bureauhttp://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2017/august/economic-impact-report.htmlMarcus & Millichap 2017 Multifamily Investment Forecast2017 Commercial Real Estate Trends Report by Integra Realty Resourceshttp://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/Pittsburgh-Magazine/September-2017/Staying-CMU-All-Eyes-on-Carnegie-Mellons-Future/http://www.nextpittsburgh.com/features/pittsburgh-developments-watch-2017/

In fact, this whole thread has been eye opening and awesome to say the least!

Taxing authorities have had their eye on vacation rentals as a huge, new found pot of gold.  

They see foreigners as one-off buyers so they're not too much concerned about building a relationship or their reputation in the eyes of somebody who doesn't live there for that matter.

Like Scott said, I use a large bank with no fees and also have my (separate) personal account with them so I can keep an eye on both when I log in.

No money down, and it opened my eyes to the power of real estate!

(I recently saw an article in Forbes talking about the Bay Area’s shifting market) And if you aim to hold properties long term, keep your eyes on towns around the Bay that have had consistent rent growth.Here in my home market of Phoenix, I see investors branching out to places like Austin, Chicago, and even Omaha from what Ive heard because they recognize how trends can shift quickly.

I agree with you...there are going to be some opportunities but from what I've seen so far, lenders and banks are trying to keep the failures out of the public eye for the most part.