I'm originally from Western PA as well (Slippery Rock) and now reside in Atlanta.Here is how I am looking at it along with the assumptions I am making:1) I think the growth prospects are better in the Atlanta market than Pittsburgh from a pure demographics standpoint.2) I estimate your return on equity at 7.2% currently3) Over the long haul appreciation is going to take you further when it comes to net worth than cashflow will4) Doubling of the roofs is doubling the expensesThings to consider:1) What is the year built of your Atlanta property vs. what you could replace it with in PGH?

Roof is 30 yrs old but structural and foundation is in good conditions and everything else is intact.

As noted, it keeps capital available to replace the HVAC, when it goes out in your first month of ownership, or the roof starts leaking and you are chasing an unknown source to the tune of thousands of dollars.  

The issues being  1) inconsistencies in roof (dont know what this means)  2) a hole in the drywall behind stove in kitchen because of which there are spiders coming out of the wall and they had to kill two of them.At this time, I am concerned that they will trash the house while leaving it.

That is a steep price for anyone new looking to get involved. 

Some carriers offer loss assessment insurance, which can come into play when the HOA experiences a large covered insurance loss, such as a hail storm requiring roof replacement or a fire requiring building replacement.  

Consistent with the advice of @Jo Bradley , if I could get through the first couple years financially, keeping current home seems a lot easier than long distance investing...and at least I know what is wrong with my current home (I.e it will eventually need new roof etc). 

Roof Maintenance/Repair: Done as needed, paid by the owner.

But larger repair items such as appliances and mechanical, plumbing, electrical, roof windows doors etc should still fall under the landlord's responsibility.

I've even heard of GCs using auction type settings for returned items at Home Depot and Lowes for steep discounts.I've learned a lot about the GC game as I was up close to over 40 projects last two years and some went well and some did not and when they did not it was all Contractor related.If a GC isn't sourcing cheap materials at the same time milking the hell out of his 150-200 per day workers, then you can find yourself eating into your margins real fast.