You can hire a RE lawyer to oversee my  side of the contract if I really need to.

Just like you I have been thinking into mentorship programs and I have gone to Multifamily Mindset ($40K), Apartment Educators ($20K) which is based in Texas, and now I am looking into RE Mentor (mentor of co-founder of Multifamily Mindset) and it's a 3 day seminar for $1500 (but they end up giving you a *one time discount* if you sign up during the free 2 hour event for $995 but it is possible to sign up for their mentorship program through their website if you can't go to their free event).

In my opinion, house hacking is the easiest way to get into the RE game with the lowest money out of pocket...plus if you throw in a renovation loan like the 203k or homestyle, you can boost your worth quickly!

I’m established in my career and not looking to make RE my full time but I don’t have a ton of capital and I enjoy modeling and underwriting and being hands on with management so the passive/syndication route isn’t an option.

.$26 for the kindle edition could be some of the best money spent on your RE business.  

As long as you meet your reinvestment requirements it doesn't matter how you allocate the proceeds.Now (now not needed) In your case if you"re selling for $800k (after closing costs and commissions) and maybe you decide you would like to purchase two properties for $400k.

Agreed with the above posts,  for $500 or less you can likely get a RE attorney  to get your ducks in a row to do the eviction properly.  

It also is helpful to have a California LLC in case you ever sell that property and move into another state so that you do not need to form a new LLC altogether with new operating agreement, just re-register in the new state as a new foreign LLC.

If you didn't buy solely off the fact you needed to 1031, then did tax re-assessment get you?

A great way to start is by attending RE events and joining a local investors association.