The fire department should put them in for them if they think its so easy to get it done. 

That helped immensely and will be a major consideration for me!

Don't see any major red flags here, so long as you are comfortable in the low income space.

His listings were mostly on nystatemls but have begun creeping up on all the other major sites.One of the properties he listed is NOT for sale according to the owner and I suspect that to be the case for many others. 

‘I agree the vast majority are small investors, or new to passive investments.  

The majority of my rentals I have acquired were for equity not cash flow.

My wife had to hand hold the majority of the interactions with the tenants and attorneys which was unacceptable.

Unless the property is in major disrepair, you are not going to have a problem in Florida. 

I would pick a major tourist destination where it wasn't saturated with STR's already.That would take some research but you could google top vacation destinations and find a place you would go on vacation.

I would start with the code & zoning department for your community