I am willing to find the properties do all the leg work and line everything up.

You are NOT owed the fruits of others persons sacrifices, effort, work and life elevation. 

But a licensed brokerage as you state will have E and O  there is clearly Errors and omissions here that any agent who has half a brain would have seen by personal inspection or reviewing paper work and helped steer the client away form this mess. 

I’m determined to make this work and would appreciate any advice.Thanks for your help!

It takes more work and longer than you'd like.

You have a 1 bedroom so house hacking doesn't really work and most HOAs won't allow for short term rental and in some cases, arguably mid term rentals (I am starting to see no "transient" housing of any kind, so an argument could be made that this applies to mid-term). 

Continue to net work and study what value you can bring to the table and keep shouting out to the community who you are.

I've seen some really high quality unpermitted work and structural disasters with permits.All depends on the owner and who you are buying it from. 

IT Business:With $250k in cash savings and significant untapped equity in your rentals, you’re in a strong position to leverage your existing real estate knowledge to grow your portfolio further.The real estate market, particularly with your ability to do your own rehabs, might provide you with more immediate and scalable opportunities for wealth building, especially if you can find properties that need work and force appreciation through value-add strategies.Balancing Both:You don’t necessarily have to give up the IT business entirely.

So I'm doing all the leg work and paper trail while he just pays holding taxes.