Choose one area to focus on and go deep into educating yourself thoroughly in that area.As your doing this, also begin networking, attending meetups, and building relationships with other investors and real estate professionals.

I ended up not closing on the property after researching and really doing a deep dive on the area overall.I appreciate your feedback Stephen!

We put it back up on the rental market after just some deep cleaning, paint refresh... and listed it back up at $4100/mo just to see what happens.   

Take a look at this thread before getting to deep into that game. 

Just make sure you are buying deep because if your DTI is high, you can't save your portfolio on a rainy day.

From what I've seen REITs typically bury those things deep in their financials. 

To answer your original question I'd try and find a speculative PE fund that is willing to take a risk like this; maybe someone who has a deep deep understanding of remediation like this and take them on as a money partner.

All this and more is why I say WHOLESALE, WHOLESALE, WHOLESALE because you need to get more knowledge and experience in the market before diving into the deep end with just a hope and a prayer. 

The DC Metro area is a tough market...and if you're a 'newbie', unless you have deep pockets, NoVA/Montgomery Cty isn't really the place to start! 

If it works it works, if not, don't "pretend" that it's a good deal when deep down you know it's not.We'd rather not buy than buy the wrong properties.