Question is , if i cant get a hold of him, how do i start cleaning up water damage, and can i assume he is not coming back to claim his possessions?

Be very friendly and assuming you can pry a forwarding address out of them the day after they move I would file with Small Claims Court for all lost income up to the time it is re-rented.

Lets assume I am able to recover my down payment after the sale including closing costs, ect.

@Dan D. turnkey property you are delaying the need to build your own team down the years (assuming they have done solid work in the property) the basic question you need to ask what is the IRR you are trying to target how actively you like to involve. 

My situation, I'm a 32 year old single father of an 8 year old girl, I have a full time job making around 61k/year I have been renting a townhouse from my mother for nearly a decade, never really thinking I would have to move in fact, I assumed(like an ***) that I would just end up owning it sooner or later, I never prepared for having to move or prepared a downpayment or anything of that sort, in other words, I've been very stupid over the years.

Your kids are dependents now I assume, then the withdrawal would go on your tax return if you dont file seperately for them.

While I'd love to branch out to seller financing or BRRRs eventually, the two properties I have so far have traditional mortgages, so let's assume I'd do the same on this.

I really doubt this place will appreciate more than $100k assuming we sell within the next 5 years, so the presumption would be that we wouldn't end up owing anything...is that right?

I would assume the support and training wouldn't be nearly as good as if you had joined a local broker. 

I'm assuming you've done what you can online by looking up the parcel info in your county parcel viewer, online searching parcel # and address?