Investors typically want to stay within the original budget.The only way to do this is to stick to the plan and avoid COs!

I think the heating cost that the OP mentioned is reasonable and typical.

I am grateful to you for sending me back to the white board. 

I’m excited to take my first steps into real estate investing and have decided to focus on Pittsburgh for my first property.I’d love to hear your thoughts on:*Neighborhoods or areas in Pittsburgh that are good for investment and typical price ranges I should expect.

While they typically have considerable deferred maintenance, we're getting great terms.

Deduct NEW property taxes after you buyDeduct home insurance costsDeduct maintenance percentage, typically 10%Deduct vacancy+tenant nonperformance percentage(we recommend 5% for Class A, 10% Class B, 20% Class C, good luck with Class D)Deduct whatever dollar/percentage of cashflow you wantNow, what you have left over is the amount for debt service.Enter it into a mortgage calculator, with current interest rate for an investment property, to determine your maximum mortgage amount.Divide the mortgage amount by either 75% or 80%, depending on the required down payment percentage - this is your tentative price to offer.If the property needs repairs, you'll want to deduct 110%-120% of the estimated repairs from this amount.Be sure to also research the ARV and make sure it's 10-20% higher than your tentative purchase price.As long as the ARV checks out, this is the purchase price to offer.It is probably significantly below the asking price.

@David F.As Russell mentioned co-ops are probably 1/2 the price of a condo and you would also have extensive costs to set up a co-op and typically it’s my understanding the builder funds the first 1-2 years of reserves.

The average home value stands at $562,718, marking a 5.1% year-over-year rise, and homes typically go pending in approximately 30 days.

You'll have access to owner occupied loan products, therefore saving on your down payment, typically 3-5% compared to 20-25% for non owner occupied properties.

A monthly fee (typically around $5-20/mo) is added on to the payment.