I've talked to a few realtors about properties, offered to take them to lunch to pick their brain, etc., but I think many of the local agents are busy thinking about closing their deals and not really motivated to help find something.Anyways, I'm a newbie with a fairly substantial amount of cash to invest. 

So, when I picked it up most of the work was cosmetic (paint, flooring, fixtures, etc.).

To start with, I'm looking to pick up 5-10 SFHs in a cash flow market.

You can put it into index funds/ETFs for high diversity with modest returns, or you can learn to value business and pick stocks for greater returns, if you manage to master that skill.

Also to add what was mentioned above, we have found excellent designers that you can hire for an hourly rate, that in a short amount of time can basically design and pick out all of the supplies needed for the job.

you have to pick a niche to pursue  real estate investing has 100 different options.  

Got two 8plex's and a couple duplexes that we picked up on the way out here! 

I used comparables through similar sites to what you mentioned and made a list of notes next to them like "similar condition to ours" "small bedrooms" "has a pool" or whatever else was like/unlike our units and then picked in the higher percentile of rents because I knew we would provide more benefits than other units.

Hopefully we could discuss how you came to pick outside Pittsburgh as well?

It even shows you comps for other STRs nearby and you can pick and choose which comps you want to accept based on the amenities the properties share.