@Dan ShuderRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

@Chris LauerRecommend exploring as many sources as possible to get referrals AND cross-reference them to get as much accurate information as possible.Check out NARPM.com, BP’s Property Manager Finder (BiggerPockets: The Real Estate Investing Social Network), etc.Also, encourage you to learn from the mistakes of others - by reading posts here on BiggerPockets about owners not having their expectations met by their current Property Management Company.

You will have to verify those yourselves to ensure you end up with correct operating expenses.Quote from @Andrew Newcomb: Just following up on this in case anyone is still following:I learned about "cap rate" and "cash on cash" metrics in the BP learning articles and watched a couple vids on the BP rental calculator showing how it calcs those metrics for a prop (you have to add the details like loan info, expenses, etc). very cool tool.

I'm an out of state investor looking to understand and learn the Pittsburgh market.

Buy and hold for cash-flow Lessons learned?

I would say that this is an amazing location and you're going to learn so much!

Maybe his investing style is just way more passive? 

Learning to manage locally is trial by fire. 

There are varying opinions on this but mine is: cheap never goes out of style.

I have learned to be in favor of finding the best market to invest in.