It was a fairly strong smell for many years, but now it is only bad a few times a year.  

Plenty strong enough for residential...should be between 1k to 2k per pier depending on how many you need, access, and other factors.

Finally, there's a strong ethos for living in SFH in my area and a negative connotation with apartment dwelling. 

Many see Pittsburgh PA as a strong cash flow market and it is.

@Donald Coleman depends on your learning style but I’d highly suggest in-class at your local organization of realtors office.

credit unions are usually pretty strong with these as well.

I can imagine a 1920s style home had its charm.  

I have seen the Phoenix Units more than double in value and my Peoria units are worth 40 percent more than I paid.I have sold 9 of my Phoenix Units and moved my money to Pittsburgh where I can find CAP rates of 8 percent and where properties have not sky rocketed in price.I have purchased 14 properties (19 units) in Pittsburgh over the past year and my CAP rates and cash flow are much better.I strongly feel it is the wrong time to be buying properties for cash flow in the Phoenix valley.  

The place smelt like smoke, has 1970s style wallpaper, needs new floors and paint, complete bathroom reno, needs new appliances, and new electrical outlets. 

if your problem is capital and not your DTI. there's really two ways to go about this. 1. simply save. qualifying for a  200k place means you have probably 9-11k saved up for a place including closing costs. so just increase that by 50% and whoop theres a 300k place for you. with some strong saving, you could probably do that in 6-12 months. 2. use gift money from friends and family. you can take these gifts for personal residences.