As someone mentioned, the only thing passive about real estate investing is the tax treatment. 

You didn't mention the higher Florida insurance costs. 

@Tamika Davis One of the biggest advantages of most software on the market is to complete these tasks you mention (maintenance, leases, rent collection, etc). 

@Robert Ellis Since you mentioned panels, have you looked into SIPs at all for your builds? 

As you mentioned, the benefit to paying it off is the peace of mind and simplicity. 

Quote from @Chaliyah Penick: I have a relative that is up in age and no longer able to afford the mortgage and are falling behind. 

However it is worth it to pay a little bit more money for a mortgage now, so I can start building equity, assets, and future cash flow.Hey @Kody Glithero, welcome to the BP Forum and it's so great to hear you're looking to start your real estate journey as such a young age!

$6k tax.Ins,hoa, not to mention utilities . took out a HELOC off of our personal home ( res.worth $900k, and a 260sq ft studio, mtr. $1450 mo.) for$ 220,000 for the deposit.

@Pratik as @Neil Narayan mentioned, cash flow is very challenging due to the property values, property taxes, and soft rental market.

As others have mentioned, yes you can use section 8 rents with some DSCR lenders.