Sunshine, your inbox is about to be mega-spammed from unsolicited offers from snake oil salesmen.

There are no short cuts or easy routes to success contrary to what the snake oil sales men are peddling.

If you couple in forced appreciation in properties in such markets, then you get both short and long term profits.If you try to invest for both right off the bat, well that is a unicorn hunt as described above ... you are far more likely to find a snake oil salesman con man staple a horn on the head of a donkey and sell it off to a unicorn, and since you believe in fairytales you will believe him as he tells you whatever you want to hear just to make the sale.A skilled RE operator can make great profit in either type of market, but you give up too much control as a newbie going out of state, so your best bet is to work with the opportunities that your local market has to offer and learn to invest hands on and local rather than chasing out of state unicorns.Am I being too subtle?

Seems to me like you're talking to a snake oil salesman.

I have a cable plugged in the garage and then snaked through the gutters.

Her friend explained how her and her husband had gotten started buying SFR’s and duplexes and recently bought a building...once my wife heard it from someone other than me, she realized I wasn’t just trying to sell her snake oil.

everywhere you'll find snakes like these people. 

Way to many snakes out there.  

But then, being Miami Florida, there were thunder storms, roofing issues, insurance claims, still unpaid, lost my tenant as a result, bad financial decisions, etc, etc.. got me in a jammed that I still am.

You have a few options to fix the clog; you can try to unclog it yourself using a drain cleaner, snake it or hire a professional.