You will definitely need a source of income to get a loan (from a traditional mortgage lender), and that income can in fact be from a job. 

In San Francisco, a "traditional" suburban driveways are rare and are often times confused with the sidewalk portion in front of the building. 

Are you using a traditional bank or a hard money lender? 

If you go the traditional route you would have to wait 6-12 months for "seasoning" before you could refinance the property and get a traditional mortgage.

Traditional loan with a local bank How did you add value to the deal?

But upon ripping it up, I found it to be soaking wet and layered with piles of dander/dirt, which due to the moisture was more of a mud -yuck.

You'll want to consult a professional money lender (hard, private, traditional, etc) about the different methods of financing this if you aren't a cash buyer.

At times I go as far as helping them create an annual plan and find local contractors to take care of the routine maintenance work.Has anyone ever run into this situation where a traditional homeowner could benefit from the way a landlord does things?

Well for a traditional home buyer they want to build a house where they  have control over things.

@Kadeen E Lyons1) First, you can't take a loan from an IRA but may be able to take a loan from your 401k - either traditional or under the CARES Act (check with the administrator).2) Here are the general considerations regarding 401k loans.401k Participant LoansIf your 401k plan allows for 401k participant loans, the maximum loan amount is equal to 50% of the balance up to $50k.