My question is whether or not we need to hire a title company OR an attorney OR if we need to hire both.

I've heard from a lot of investors in this area that GC's (at least good ones) are impossible to lock down due to the nature of the market.I'm considering hiring individual contractors for all the different specialties, and trying to find a PM to oversee the rehab to make sure work is getting done.

If I hire someone to do work on my rental property in California, and that person (either licensed or unlicensed) does not have their own worker's compensation insurance on themselves, must I provide it if they are an Independent Contractor - and how exactly does one determine if such a person is an employee or independent contractor? 

Also, with regard to the Property Management, I would advise you to not fall into the trap of not factoring this in for two reasons:(1) Even if you manage it, you could pay yourself the PM Fee as payment for your time spent on the management of the property; and(2) If you ever decide to hire a PM, you already have that factored into your numbers and so you can be confident that the numbers still workThe biggest tip that I can give you is don't handicap your income potential by failing to account for the base expenses that need to be considered when assessing a properties ROI. 

Once we got the keys, we hired an asbestosis abatement company to remove materials which tested positive (e.g., drywall in the guest and master bathroom).

If he is refusing to leave you may need to hire someone to kick him out and I would imagine a lawyer that specializes in this or a large property manager would have a contact for you.If the lawyer gives you the red light you really have no choice but to wait until the end of the lease term and then not renew the lease.

In the future, always hire an attorney.

Hired property management firm, catching up deferred maintenance.

This city has now hired a company to go after all these illegal operations and shut them down.So no, I would not do it anyway if it were illegal to do so.

Being a recent college graduate and I am in the process of getting hired for a job right now and plan on going straight into the real estate game once I have capital.