My contractor is highly encouraging tile, but I worried about tenant not cleaning the grout, what would you put inside other than tile?

I would still encourage you to speak with your refinance lender to see if you should take the final draw after all the work is done. 

The auctioneers will try to encourage action.

I would encourage her to have a balanced portfolio. 

If you already identified a property you wanted like so in this case, you don't need a buyer agent to do the searching for you for obvious reasons, and working with the listing agent gives him the incentive to encourage your offer so he/she receives double commission. 

Holding back that much will help encourage them to finish or allow you to hire GC #2.   

that's what i've gathered yeah, that it's really people in the colder climates that care about garages. so to reiterate: if most other single family RENTALS in the area don't have garages or sprinkler systems, yours doesn't have to either. and even if they do, a local PM company could prob tell you how much less rent you could generate for that reason, & it could still be a great deal. i'd just encourage you to not miss out on a deal just because it might not be PERFECT. they never will be!

I would encourage you to go for it!

Thanks for the encouragement @Daniela Beck, @Cade Edwards I am most interested in Central East Coast of Florida as it is the market I know the best.

Used to spend some time at Lake San Antonio not too far away (remember going into Lockwood in search of 2 stroke oil one time)I think you are on the right path with the snowball effect (my wife and I used that same method to pay down and off our debt) As far as investing out of state I would highly encourage you to do your research on the area and try and find someone more familiar with the market and the nuances of the market to help you in the beginning.