You have absolutely zero standing to demand anything from the tenants much less give them any kind of notice. 

I don't want to go too low because that brings additional headaches.Also, I just did my burn rate calculation, estimating a 10% vacancy, 5% cap-ex and 5% repairs (remember, I always rehab all my places from the start) and I'm exactly $1,000 a month SHORT of where I need to be to cover my bills as they stand today.

The thing that stands out to me is your genuine honesty about how brutal and difficult your journey was but yet you succeeded.

I guess that would be true for most any market, but it stands double here.This also accounts some for the number of rentals you might see available.  

Properties need to be in a historic district or have stand alone significant importance to be added to the National Register of Historic Places.   

So watch who is standing there with people coming to them and go talk to them and ask them about the REIA.  

I think leaving them might stand out to a new buyer as not having been done.

What ground do I have to stand on legally when I signed a 1 year lease?

This may sound like a crazy question but what does LOC stand for?

The lawyer's been paid (he's not on a retainer) and as it stands we've been pitching in as a family to pay the mortgage of the property, so there's no way we could scrounge up thousands of dollars to pay them off if they're looking for a hefty payout.