So, their attorney gets back to them with the new that (1) their dream of a “contingency” fee lawsuit is a non starter (2) that the process is going to be long, drawn out, and (3) that a $15,000 retainer would be required. 

I'm looking to invest in the community through single family starter homes.

Affordable/starter homes in the DFW area tend to appreciate much better than higher end homes.

As a starter I think the regional/drive to leisure market would be an area for me to start, where folks can drive within a couple of hours and still get a vacation. 

Non starter for your venture.. 

That's kind of like buying a plan to try out sky diving isn't it. 

Housing prices in two of our larger cities (Vancouver and Toronto) are also crazy high (eg $1M to buy a starter home)...actually in Vancouver proper at the moment the cheapest home (single family, not strata) is $1.2M...surprisingly (to me) in Toronto the cheapest home on the market is $650K (ignoring some listed for $1 as clearly there is a catch).Our mortgages work differently than in the US, and what we get for rates are only locked in for 1-5 years (typically) and then we have to renew at whatever the current rates are. 

It also looks like it could be a great starter home as well for graduates/ younger couples local to the area.

For starters, hire an attorney in Cleveland, not Cincinnati.For awhile they were not doing evictions if landlords didn't get their properties lead certified.

I've had really good luck with the upper starter home level homes with an ARV around the 150,000 mark.