I am unsure if I should contact a real estate lawyer or another professional.

If you have questions feel free to reach out. 

I’m going out there soon to get a feel for the state.

That house will rent for less than $3,000 a month so you'll have nothing left to set aside for vacancies, property management, etc.Learn how to crunch numbers, then work with a professional that can help you understand the true costs of a market.

Currently about to remodel one side of our duplex from a 2 bed/2 bath to a 3 bed/2 bath with upgraded mini split ductless HVAC system.We've been doing real estate investing for over 10 years and I'm close to finishing developing a land lording class for local landlords to learn from my mistakes of 10 years and similar to the BP mentality ensure landlords are raising the bar to push the less than reputable landlords out as we feel our tenants deserve better! 

Feel free to call me if you want to dig a little deeper into some stats.

When I have an experience as bad as this one was, I feel I owe it to other investors to warn them.

We found new professional management that had several licensed managers on staff.

If you are not then you will see a ~$10k foreclosure sale, a resale less than a year later to an unwitting out of state investor for $50k, and the current attempt to sell it for $58k to get the current poor bastard out of the deal and cover the cost of the sale.Be very wary of becoming the next guy holding the hot potato when the economic music stops...I see rent rates have stopped rising and our local MLS shows an increasing number of days on market so I feel the music is slowing.Hope this helps!

Start things small by choosing smaller properties like duplexes or single-family units for house hacking, and seek guidance from expert investors or professionals.