Pittsburgh Investment Property

[Kathleen Ennis]

This is my first post! I'm so happy to have stumbled upon BiggerPockets this morning. What an amazing site. 

My husband and I are in the process of purchasing a home in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh.  We live in Modesto, California and have a few properties here that we manage ourselves with the help of a few very reliable and affordable

handyman types. Two standard rental homes, plus a small cottage that we rent out on a short-term basis to traveling nurses via AirBnB. We've had ridiculously good luck in terms of tenants and wanted to invest a little more of our cash in the real estate market. Modesto is finally seeing the recovery the rest of the state has been enjoying for years, so the price-to-rent rations "at home" are no longer so appealing. 

This was a rather spontaneous purchase. In researching places with favorable price-to-rent ratios, Pittsburgh emerged as a potential candidate. We had a week of vacation laying around, so we flew to the PGH in early June. To make a long story short, we fell in love with the city. The Lawrenceville neighborhood reminds us of Portland 10 years ago, infused with a charming mix of brewpubs, cupcake shops, and hipsters.  Anyway, we found a lovely little house that needs some "cosmetic updating" and are planning to rent it out.  

Any advice/feedback on the following issues would be appreciated. 

• Competitive insurance rates? 
• Contractors: I have a few issues that require licensed contractors: roof repair, some drywall work, regulation of water flow, etc.
• Handymen: I have LOTS of issues that require a jack-of-all trades. Removing some ugly chain link fencing, painting, replacing doors. My dream is to find in the PGH what I have here in Modesto: an honest person with a diverse skill set. Mike can hang a picture, build a fence, and add electrical outlets. 
• Property Management options: I really, really don't want to pay a monthly fee. I was thinking of using online options, or maybe hiring someone to find/screen tenants and then taking over from there. This is why I need a good handyman! But maybe I need to bite the bullet since I live so far away?

I'm coming to sign papers during the second week of August. I plan on staying a week or so to see how much I can get done live and in person. I'm resigned to racking up airline miles getting her ready to roll out. My goal is to haver her rent-ready by October 1, and a tenant in place by November. But you know what they say about the best laid plans.....