If short term rentals are legal, it can be doubly profitable.As far as running a short-term rental while holding down a full-time job, it's not a problem, you just need to develop systems for dealing with guest communication, TURNOVER and any unexpected emergencies.

Here are the pros & cons as I see it:1) Mortgage 2nd Property: With my income & savings, I figure I can qualify for a purchase of $150-$175k (though I'd really prefer to stay under or as close to $150 as possible so I can still have some money left over for renovations or unexpected expenses).

After moving from Dallas, what were some of the unexpected challenges you face investing in Florida? 

We had one unexpected major addition to the rehab scope which was a new water main that needed installed out to the road.

Get that initial project at the minimal purchase possible and have at lease 1.5 - 2times over your initial deposit for the unexpected.

I target $10k right now because it's a good amount to have to cover any potential unexpected expenses for 4 houses.

The only time I had someone leave unexpectedly was an inherited tenant and it was a blessing.

Even though you can use other people's money to purchase and rehab, it seems like you'd need a certain level of cushion for unexpected repairs, vacancies, or emergencies that might come up before the property has had enough time to build up its own cash reserves for such things. 

There's always something that can go wrong, but the numbers are so low that any unexpected repair would make this a waste.

Super sad but my real estate agent unexpectedly passed away around a year ago.