The homes themselves appeal to large families with kids, but with no yard and a bad school district. 

You have half the cash that you need, it probably is a bad idea to raid your retirement accounts due to the penalties you would incur. 

And it's difficult to 'storyboard' a situation not knowing how bad the downturn will be.  

You never have to deal with a bad tenant on purchase if the seller can get rid of them first. 

Most wholesalers and wholesale buyers don't do inspections because they expect the property to be bad, but you should have a general idea of what repairs cost however inspectors are not used for this purpose.

That would be a "self help eviction" and would make a bad situation worse.Sorry, I have no references for an attorney in your area. 

Im one exam away from getting my real estate lisence and starting my career as an investor/agent.

My bad too much trust in someone I had no experience with.

Although I feel bad for the tenant, I think they would encounter this problem wherever they live in the south.

I know a gentleman that bought one distressed location in a somewhat bad neighborhood and rehabbed it, turned around and bought the one next to it , and so on and so forth until he had bought a whole block.