Ensure you collect a proper security deposit (typically one month's rent in Florida) to cover potential damages.Your plan to increase rent next year makes sense given rising costs (taxes, insurance, and maintenance).

Traditional deals often don’t excite investors—offering $200/month in cash flow isn’t very compelling.But with co-living, you can offer 5X the returns, making it much easier to secure funding.Now, instead of asking an investor to put up a 20% down payment for $200/month cash flow, you can pitch them a 5% down investment yielding $1,000+/month—a much more attractive deal.Why Co-Living is the FutureCo-living isn’t just another strategy—it’s a high-demand, high-cash-flow, lower-risk investment model that aligns with today’s rental market trends.

But the bank still treats it as a secured debt.

Secure liability insurance to protect against lawsuits or property-related claims.

Look for a place where you can secure items that you do not want tenants to have access to. 

It does sound to me that a lot of that work should have come out of the tenants security deposit 

How could I best secure financing for the renos to get each unit up and income producing?

I just had tenants move out of my investment property (duplex) without paying for the last month's rent, and the damage they inflicted onto the property exceeds their security deposit amount.

How difficult or easy has it been to get tenants secured in that area?

Personally I would pass but if you go forward I would do a lot of research on the group you are renting to and get a very large security deposit to cover damage.