My questions are these: Should I be worried about the potential for me buying this and zoning enforcement coming after me if I rented it out to two households? 

I don't know where in Kentucky you are from, but I would suggest a market other than Lexington because it is saturated and the successful wholesalers, like Brian Evans, are spending a lot of money to make sure that get a crack at the majority of the deals.  

I spend hours giving contractor referrals to friends who have work to do around their own houses because I "flip houses."

After spending quite some time researching the basics of real estate investing, primarily through bigger pockets, i've generated a general map of where I want to take my investing and how I will reach my goals.

You pay on the full amount whether you spend it or not, but the interest rate is fixed.Other than that I know pretty much nothing.

I wouldn't install inexpensive ceramic tile, I'd pay a little more for materials and install a good quality porcelain which won't be as susceptible to chipping as ceramic is, I'd combine that with spending a bit more on one of the commercial grade grouts like Tec Power grout or similar so that the grout never needs to be sealed and the color won't change with wear over time.  

I'll be working a year-long project back home and want to spend my time wisely working to create income thru real estate assets.

Most houses that go to tax sale need more then paint and carpet. if a homeowner can't pay for their taxes they certainly aren't spending a lot of money on maintenance.

If the LLC did not own the properties, did not actually spend the money for the expenses or accept rents then you should claim the expenses  under your own name.If the money ran through the LLC then the LLC would claim both the income and expenses.If it was some combination of the two then you have a bit of a mess to clean up.

I know, which is why I'm taking it upon myself to combat this "fear" I guess you could call it.I guess what I could do is try to always keep a piece of paper near me, on that paper have a ballpark idea of what I am looking to spend, and what area I would be most likely be looking into, as well as how would I go about financing (now on that part, I most likely would want to work with a broker, since there's a bit more flexibility) since I would be going from "rags to niches to (hopefully) riches."