Whatever you can do to increase your savings or increase your income: cut out unnecessary expenses, work a side job, put money into a HYSA as opposed to a regular savings account earning 0.1% interest.

To pick the right house, use sites like Zillow, Redfin, and Realtor.com, know what's going on in the local area, and look at loan options like regular bank loans or FHA loans.

How it is different from a regular transaction? 

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.

The Assessments levied by the Association shall be used exclusively for payment of Common Expenses including, without limitation (i) the upkeep, maintenance and improvement of the Common Areas and other maintenance obligations set forth in Sections 10.1 and 10.3 below; (ii) maintenance, repair, replacement, and operation of rights-of-way and easements within or immediately adjacent to the Project (e.g. landscaping and sidewalks within the right-of-way of adjoining streets) to the extent that such actions are required by government entities or deemed appropriate by the Board, (iii) promoting the recreation, health, safety and welfare of the Owners and other lawful occupants of Lots within the Property, (iv) payment of property taxes for the Common Area; (v) insurance premiums; (vi) legal and accounting fees; (vii) management fees; (viii) charges for utilities and other services provided to the Common Area by the Association, if any, and for all utility charges paid or incurred by the City and reimbursed by the Association for street lights in the Common Area; (ix) costs to maintain the entrance features, including any electricity, landscaping and irrigation expenses associated therewith; (x) the performance and exercise by the Association of its rights, duties and obligations under the Project Documents, and (xi) maintaining any Stormwater Control Facilities located on portions of Common Areas to the standard required by the governmental entity or agency having jurisdiction over such areas.

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).