He told me he could go with me to court to fight it because the garbage actually fell off the garbage truck when they collected garbage, and the garbage collector noticed it but was too lazy to pick it up.

Account Closed  I admire your fight but sorry but I'll pile on too. 

I'm no lawyer, but you may want to present this situation to one and get some advice. if you're using an agent, they should be fighting on your behalf to complete this transaction.

If it is worth fighting get a good attorney.Your By-Laws may allow you to call for an independent audit at the HOA's expense. 

I have no dog in that fight but there is definitely a lot of smoke.

Rather than fight, we sold the condo.

I can’t answer this specifically but after just winning a fight with CS zoning I would advise you strongly that you get everything they tell you in writing!

Miami just had a news report where they are fining Airbnb owners and I also believe I saw another on Vancouver fighting short term rentals as well as NYC now stating it must be owner occupied and only allowed to lease for a certain number of days per year.  

It depends on what you are looking for, if you don't want an agent to do any analysis or deep digging to find properties, your friends are probably capable of handling all the paperwork in a transaction just fine. 

Without that experience it will be hard for them to truly understand and fight for your unique and specific needs as an investor.