If you don't have much time, I would suggest AVOIDING class C properties and instead focusing on Class B and A. 

I feel kinda sorry for them.My point is that these "quality" duplexes appeal to a VERY narrow market, first time buyers..."

I wrote about how I narrowed down my market from anywhere in the US to Jacksonville in this BiggerPockets blog post:Investing from out of countryI've worked with a lot of investors like yourself - just wanting to get started. 

I live in one of the areas that the band of lake effect snow just sat over us dropping 5" per hour.  

Your intro caught my attention because I have relatives living in Yonkers.In my experience I have not found real estate groups that specialize in that narrow of an investment type, but maybe you can find that in a bigger area.Have you discovered the podcasts yet?  

Once you have narrowed down the neighborhoods you're going to focus on, make sure you attend some open houses in those areas and view some properties with your agent. 

To be specific about potential issues you need to narrow the year built to the quarter century. :) 

Renting it out is Plan B and I would then rent an apartment in close proximity to work for roughly 1850/month.  

Ask the active investors there what strategies they focus on and who they use for their closings.You can search for REIA's right here on BP or Google them...http://www.biggerpockets.com/rei/real-estate-clubs/Once you have narrowed it down, call and speak to a closing agent. 

We are still in the search phase, but narrowing our choices down a lot, gaining more insight on the properties as we dig deeper into the initial cost and over all investment.