Needless to say, the city posted a red tag notice on the door 10 days later and the tenant could no longer enter the home.I can honestly say that the home was safe and I would have no problem living there personally but the city is furious that permits weren’t pulled and this home seems to have had quite a history with the city (not in a good way).

Do not take this negativity make you quit. 

I've heard of Quit Claim Deeds , I don't know if that involves a Gift Tax, which I was told there isnt anything in South Carolina.     

@Harrison CookA stick built house from 1960 is not terribly old  ... definitely young enough that one would expect to find finned hydronic baseboards and not cast-iron radiators with a steam / gravity fed boiler.When it comes to your building envelope, if it has not been updated, you may have early paper-backed, fibreglass batt insulation, but could quite possibly have paper-encased gypsum insulation ... in either case, it is likely no more than R5-R7.  

I'm worried about running into the issue of not being able to get loans as soon as I quit my job.

In time your expenses will increase considerably on individual doors and eat up your cash flow.I would be looking to sell now while the SFH market is still high.

Or should we just eat the fee and go separate ways?

It's quite often today that I see advertisements on TV, billboards, or signs on the side of the road stating "I buy ugly houses" or "I buy homes with cash fast."

Being broke is a symptom of eating and drinking out, the latest gadgets, fancy cars and skinny jeans.

   $4200/yr / $35,000 investment = 12% COC return - 12% is achievable if you know what your doing. )Then you quite simply need to divide the total required income by the monthly house income to determine how many houses you need: $41,000/ monthly income / 350/mo/house = 117 SFH'sI imagine your reaction is something like this:"Okay.