Since I vetted the tenants and regularly did property inspections we were okay with not having the extra protection of having it in an LLC.

There are plenty of other 'regular' neighborhoods that can still perform to your expectations and needs.

My understanding is that in Florida I do not need to hire licensed contractors to do regular routine maintenance (replace lamps, toilets, tiles, etc), is this true?

But it's still a bandaid and will pop out, crack, let water in, separate, and let the underlying wood rot almost as bad as regular bondo, after a few years.Napa, 3m, bondo, & Evercoat (marine), etc all sell polyester auto body fillers that are one step up from the prior with real "waterproof" claims etc, maybe priced around $30-50/quart or $75/gallon, range.

You could probably find a nice 10 unit apt building in Kalihi or Waianae for cheap but you'll need to hire security.There are whole lot new project anticipating moving into that direction, such as building higher/stronger seawall.Folks that visited regularly notice would notice there would be much more lava big rock stone allocated in front of the beach.

The monthly fee of X% should cover most regular things (collecting rent, answering calls, dealing with the occasional repair request which might happen once or twice a year depending on the tenant). 

In FL (and everywhere), as regular investments, not live in, I like 2-bedroom homes.

If your PM is not communicating with you on a regular basis about the status of the property's activity and also not responding to your inquiries in a timely manner, that's a problem.

If you provide seller financing, make sure you are a named insured on the insurance certificate like a regular bank. 

For a regular residential deal you can expect a 5-10% contact rate on any list you call.