I greet the house. 

I recently inherited my mother's house, and I'm excited to kick off my real estate journey with it as a tribute to her.

Is the next step to fill out the Request for Tenancy Approval form, have the tenant confirm their agreement, and then send it to the Public Housing Authority to schedule an inspection?

My plan is to house hack a duplex by using the equity in my current single family house to fund the down payment.

I built a house there which I sold in 2011. 

You need an accountant and tax consultant and a real estate expert to sit down and put the houses in order of their value vs. their cash flow if you and your mom do not plan to go back to regular jobs.

When I buy one of the deals for my own portfolio, or to rehab the house, I simply pay the agent a commission for finding me a deal (I'm a Broker and they're all licensed reps).

I have four SFH's on Long Island and I have had very good success with section 8 with these houses. 

My family of 6 live and own in a ranch style 3br/2.5ba house with completed bonus room upstairs in a HOA neighboorhood.

Given what you described (house hacking, FHA loan) a license will have little affect on your success in the first few years.