After a few days of meditation, journaling, and self reflection I came to a conclusion. 

You are bound to find a deal that fits into that criteria eventually and if not, take a step back to reflect and decide whether you need to change your strategy, your market or maybe even asset class. 

It was all noise and reflected their own insecurities.

Moving a little farther west to be closer to 95 and you'll land in Little Haiti, Liberty City, Allapattah, Little Havana which will get you a little more bang for you buck (although now I wouldn't even be too sure with these prices) but the neighborhoods will reflect that (take that how you please). 

The GC quotes are all over the place too so have to figure out whether its reflective of local supply and demand or a product of GC's knowledge that you will be doing all this from afar. 

Making a bad referral is a reflection on me. 

I haven't seen any increases in my escrow, is this something that is automatically reflected or do I need to make the changes myself?

Make sure you assume your tax bill will reflect the new purchase price.

If you buy a new primary requiring a loan, then the loan application must reflect that and indeed you must occupy the property as your primary residence. if that is indeed what you state, then under "Purpose of loan" click "Purchase" and under "Property will be" click "Primary Residence".

I see a number of starting points:The current owner hasn't been seen for at least 5 years -- the over-grown lot reflects this.He's almost two years behind in his property tax payments, so the county will be taking some action in the near future.