It would be advisable for the potential purchaser to thoroughly investigate every aspect of the property prior to purchase, including, but not limited to, the location of the property, type of buildings, if any, on the property, determining what, if any, liens or encumbrances exist on the property, and any other facts which may be pertinent to the contemplated purchase.

If you want to reach financial independence, a good income + limited expenses will be the catalyst.

With that, based on your numbers, I think you should go for a HELOC and I think you should easily qualify for up to $700K as HELOC limit.

If you do decide to go with Home Depot, they have a bidroom they can put things through to potentially lower the full price, it's done through the Contractor Services Desk which only has limited hours- I don't recall if they need to attach an MHIC license to that in order to submit for bid.

In addition, if you are self-employed with no full-time employees you may wish to consider opening a Solo 401k instead of a self-directed IRA as it has several advantages over an IRA LLCsuch as much higher contribution limits, direct checkbook control (i.e. no need to have the account at a speciality trust company), ability to take a 401k loan, exclusion from unrelated debt finance income tax with respect to investment in real estate acquired with non-recourse financing, etc.

The water was limited to a small area next to the shower.

(Google Florida condo special assessments)  And, you are correct, the HOA can impose numerous limitations that prevent it from being a good investment.

Limited space for expansion ensures a housing shortage, driving up property values and rents.

@Erik Estrada The purchase and rehab was over $260k, I guess I am limited by how much of a loan I can get depending on how much the property appraises for.

Quote from @Michael Peters: Yes, you can limit occupancy based on the capacity of the property.