You can often get better rates with a national lender, but the customer service is non-existent, communication probably sucks, they may ask for the same documents multiple times, etc.

If you choose to go with this strategy you could complete your exchange and immediately do a cash out refi.

You can do this too! 

Your taxes are none of the ex wife's business and this would seem to address your concerns.I would also put her on notice that future requests for financial discovery will be two-way and if a discrepancy is seen in the other direction you will seek support from her.

We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the area mentioned, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processesWe recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

I spent months reading, browsing forums and meeting with other investors to prepare.

This translates to high rental demand and potential for appreciation.Diverse Opportunities: From bustling metropolises like Miami and Orlando to charming beach towns and vacation destinations, Florida caters to a wide range of investment strategies.

Anyone can go read it.

while i do think it's valuable to analyze properties, it's really difficult to underwrite based on photos. 

For me, if I wasted even half a day trying to find one rather than buying this one it just would not have made sense.