Real estate is a great addition to a portfolio but at your stage/level/income, you need liquidity more than anything. 

The additional room attached to the property, we were told that it wasn't legal by the owner's son(the owner passed away). 

But you won't be able to know from zillow or redfin if there were any seller concessions or what type of financing did the seller use, and some additional info provided in the listing that zillow or redfin won't reveal. 

It will be a major rehab and I will be doing additions to the house.

It will be a major rehab and I will be doing additions to the house.

Then with the money left over, I would use that to buy an additional property or two. 

The additional risk that a property like this brings to an investor should never be overlooked.There is nothing wrong with a new investor buying a simple home in good condition with good financing terms.

In addition to the above questions, here's a list of of tips and tricks that you should do to verify the information provided by the syndicator.

Do you buy a single family home, invest in a syndication on something bigger or find additional money to invest in a small to medium multifamily unit?

In addition to great tips from @Hadar Orkibi, I'd also suggest on setting up an agreement with property manager on sending you periodic reports as to what's going with your property and tenants.