If the unit is consuming all of your available disposable income, then generate some more via side jobs using skills you have or develop new ones. 

When you rehab a house the first thing you should do is make sure the power is on as many a contractor will charge huge amounts of money to use their own generator for power or the fact they may need to rent one. usually passing cost plus 15% to your bill for it.  

I am basing this decision on my experience in IT (Web design, UI/UX, Social Media & SEO) and how it can lend to generating leads, branding and marketing.

That property has an increased property value from the panels because the house aesthetics are not affected at all and the savings and income generated add value.

An interest in people, building (and buildings) and seeking ways to generate wealth have lead me to real estate.

My long term goal is to buy and hold property to generate passive income and I thought becoming an agent might be a good way to further that goal for several reasons: 1) As an agent I'll have access to data from the MLS which will help me to learn my market, and potentially areas outside the city too. 2)  I'll likely make contacts with lawyers, CPAs, mortgage brokers and other professionals through my dealings. 3) I can write my own offers. 4) I need a career change anyways.That being said I have some reservations.

I've always been interested in Real Estate investing and now feel its a viable option for me to generate income and one day do full time.

I'm mainly interested in generating passive income.

I'm having zero trouble generating interest from good prospective tenants through Zillow/Hotpads/Trulia/Craigslist, but they all want to stay longer than 12 months.

It may make sense to use an S Corp if you are generating earned income.