The reason I gambled with my time with you is I thought both of us could build a company together regarding lease options and land contracts in the midwest where these seller financing tools are common place. 

You don't need to spend a lot of money getting a lawyer involved at this point, because there are steps you can take right now without needing one.If you are concerned about your tenant's physical well-being, you can have the local sheriff do a wellness check. 

If you are willing to spend the money, CoStar is a great resource.

This is giving me the opportunity to  attend graduate school as well as have more time to spend with my 1 Yo.

If I spend 5-10k on a back yard could I expect to see a return?

A word of caution though—I’ve seen clients spend a crazy amount of money on marketing with very little results.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/11212/79827-wait-before-you-spend-a-penny-investing-in-detroit

Just not excited about spending the lump sum so soon after taking ownership.

and I'm not being nosey, I genuinely like talking about people's finances and money and income and future plans etc - but I can see why people may think it's odd (I've never offended anyone that I know of, but I try to be aware that some people take money very personally).It's hard when you have these interests but feel like you can't talk to people about them  - on one of the podcasts I think it was Brandon Turner that said listening to podcasts counts and should be included with the whole idea of "you are the average of the five people you hang out with most" - it's super corny, but I took that to heart because I was unable to talk to people about my interests and felt a comfort of knowing I was still "okay" because I was "spending time" with BP and podcasts everyday and still learning and growing my interest.

I spend a lot of time in the area and move quickly on any for sale that interest me.