Doing your first deal or partnering on a deal locally will give you that first hand perspective on what "something going wrong" would actually look like. 

Some one told me that the minimum is 88% of actual listing price.

In reality you are changing jobs.

WIth your pedigree I can only assume the actual studying and testing process would be a walk on the park.  

After finding PB I realize there are a lot more options and opportunities, and I've also realized my house is actually currently a liability. 

In reality any buyer is free to do that but I don't know how often that actually happens.

Are you actually going and meeting with these sellers?

You actually should be more likely to receive a loan with little money down if you have a larger income, because your debt to income ratio can support a larger loan. 

@Allen Fletcher is right on in his assessment of the actual tax being dependent on past use (actually 500K tax free is the top exclusion if you're married and have lived in the property for 2 out of the last 5 years) and future strategy (depending on your path you could exempt all or part of the tax in a 1031 exchange).Your accountant paints the current picture better than anyone.

As for an attorney for closings, not sure why you would need that, but if you're looking for them, some title companies are actually run by attorneys who specialize in real estate and that might help you feel more comfortable.