To thrive in real estate investing, you must maintain a firm grip on your finances.

So, you can do a land contract for 12 months, which should allow lender to credit you full value of the land vs the purchase price, but the loan will pay off the land contract, so the lender maintains first lien position.Can't help you with the rest of your question, but you should be able to search for "CPA" here on BP to find experts to reach out to.

But at a $1.5M asking price, as long as you don't have to spend more than $300k in rehab (without raising rents), this is a slam dunk deal that should easily be financed  at 75% LTV by a "investment real estate-friendly" bank/credit union that is located fairly close to the properties.

We have created work instructions for every step of the process so we can maintain consistency in how we evaluate properties, communicate with tenants, market our properties, handle rent increases, manage property turnover, etc..... 

I'm still fairly new to the space, but I have lots of time and am no stranger to hard work. 

Start by formalizing the transition—create a lease agreement and maintain detailed records of rental income and expenses.

Is $3500 a fair price for the treatment?

Lenders are looking for fair market value.

AND the side you live on you can rent out a room or two depending on the number of rooms in your duplex or you have the option to maintain your privacy and sanity and keep it to yourself.  

Sometimes the tenants are coming from shelters or other communal type of housing where maintaining a space my not be solely there responsibility so maintaining the unit may not be to your liking.