There's no real hard and fast way or only 1 way or doing your first 2 points. your subject line suggests you're not looking to go to a large shop like a JLL or a CBRE which honestly I don't blame you those offices are usually pretty bloated.As far as monthly costs, if you are going to individually get a costar or other such license you are probably looking at $500-$1000 a month pretty easy in overhead once you have office dues, mls dues, marketing, etc. 

If you're in a high-cost area, consider out-of-state markets where you could buy a rental property outright. 

In this market, with interest rates and prices at where they are, they're usually not viable (i.e. don't cash flow).

@Diana Mulvihill A lot will depend on your local market and competition.

I use Facebook marketplace as my way of marketing my rentals.

I would recommend you focus on a couple neighborhoods that you would like to live in; and familiarize yourself with that market.  

Quote from @Chantel Holsather: I am always an advocate if you can fix up a property to make it more marketable, that is really the way to go.

Is my CoC return solid, or do I need to adjust anything based on my market?

Spring may be better but I was unable to sell a cheap house in October for 5% off of “market value” and only sold a $600k home in January by listing it for $580k and I still only got one offer. ($150k down, 5 year seller financing.) my point being you may get $20-$40k more in a year if you don’t need to sell. 

It's tough to swallow, but if it's not renting, it's likely as simple as the market won't bear the price you're asking.