Would love to connect and be a resource to you anyway that I can - I'm a realtor, and investor in the area and have some tips & tricks you can implement into your business and see if it helps! 

. $10,000 has been collected by the lender and is in an “unapplied” status due to the short payments.

Also, I am so grateful for the Bigger Pockets podcasts and tools/resources because a lot of what I've learned or clarified has been from listening to you all.Thank you for your time, and I look forward to learning from or working with you all!

This may be because (1) until recently interest rates were trending lower so if the lender is getting a higher rate on subject note than he can obtain on new note there’s no monetary incentive to call the note (2) in the past technology did not exist to identify the property transfers (ten years ago county recording docs were not online) and (3) the lenders rather collect payments than own property.  

Based on a quick answer from Perplexity it seems like there would be no issue with you buying the home and collecting passive income, but you may not be allowed to manage it yourself since that is considered active work.

Please recommend any books, or other learning resources on these subjects. 

Let me know if you want to get connected with data and resources in the area. 

Our goal is to snowball our efforts and scale quickly over the next few years.I’ve read a few books on real estate investing, and I’ve heard great things about BiggerPockets as a resource and community for learning and networking.

As a co-host for short term rentals, you may not need a license as long as you're not crossing over into activities that could be considered brokerage activities like handling any contracts, collecting rents, doing any accounting, approving tenants, etc.

The homeowner collects a NET/NET 5% yield with 1% increases each year in long-term lease by a BBB+ credit rated tenant (similar to Morgan Stanley credit).