If you trust your CPA already, it may be better to let them continue to make tax decisions and instead have a bookkeeper that keeps all your financial ducks in a row on a monthly basis.

I'm definitely going to have to start with a house hack and then your right I'll have to evaluate my situation at the time.

A lot of people use a 1% or 2% rule of thumb, meaning the rent income should equal 1 - 2% of the purchase price. 1% would be $2,700 a month income and you're projecting closer to .7% which is not a good deal.You could also evaluate the property using the 50% rule and see that it's not producing enough income for you.

Don’t ever let any financial professional tell you that “you don’t have a choice.”

Hire a home inspector to evaluate the property condition. 9 years vacant means it will likely need work.Warranties do not cover everything.

Still have a great job for a great company (recently promoted even) but I have come to the realization that I'm working my hiney off to make someone else financially free instead of "minding MY business".

I am especially looking for an attorney who can help us evaluate if a "Series LLC" structure would be right for us.

How often will you receive financials? 

Also to meet fellow real estate investors in the 860 area as well as nationally.My goal is to achieve financial freedom through real estate and hopefully in 5 years get involved in some commercial real estate.

Crowdfunding is the route we took and it worked out great, however it does take time and not all crowdfunding companies have the same criteria, so you need time to evaluate them and for them to do the same.Hope this helps!