I am currently working in the mental health field in which I have been able to make great contacts with many people.

Also I hate to hear your situation regarding your mother, and I wish her the best of health. 

To my knowledge, there are some specific HUD grants, and there may be local small grants available through your county health dept in your area.

She has taken it so far to complain to City of LA Dept of housing and is calling health department now (in short "we want revenge" kind of mentality, but in reality, they don't have the money to pay).

Yes the seller should give you a letter of a clean bill of health so to speak, I'm not sure on how NJ does it. 

I got healthy physically, emotionally, mentally and now am working on financial.

My dad was a GC for large construction companies so I grew up around this industry and it is in my blood but due to his health he and I were never able to go in to business like we hoped and him show me the ropes.  

A person might have a passion for helping people with their health and decide being a doctor working for a hospital as a W-2 employee is the way to go (the "E" quadrant), maybe because they know someone personally who's a W-2 employee doctor, versus another person who has the same passion for helping people with their health might decide the best way to help the most people is to open up a bunch of hospitals and run them as a business (the "B" quadrant). 

Have no shame to ask and verify the financial health of prospective partners or team/crew.

For RI you could read the RI Landlord Tenant Handbook, and again I'm not familiar with CT myself but it is worth researching.And depending on your needs/sophistication it may also be worth researching some more esoteric things such as the remedies available to creditors, lead paint and other hazard laws, licensing requirements for agents and property managers, registration requirements for out-of-state owners, etc.It's also worth researching not just the property tax burden today, but the fiscal health of any municipalities you're thinking of buying property in - because that can be an indication of future tax hikes coming down the road.