First off - if it sold so quickly before in a multiple offer situation then you're talking about a property that obviously has some desirability.

Plans are submitted to city, will start on "in-place" type reno next week for existing bath.Goal would be to find a buyer early so that we can either sell as soon as it is complete, or even sell it now - bonus for buyer would be they can customize a bit if desired (e.g. here are your two choices we include in this price range. or pay more to get whatever custom version you want). 

You wont be able to scale to 10-15 properties by using all you cash flow to pay each one off....and you wont be able to live off of one paid off property.You are going to have to leverage and then once you scale to your desired level, then start paying them off

So region ,  time in the cycle  and desire to work in your own job.Most of my closer friends or colleagues are self employed small business owners.. 

If there are good desirable  deals to be had there it may work.

It goes contrary to your desire to buy a new property for maintenance reasons.  

If you do have the funds, and want to do some of the work like installing flooring, painting, etc. yourself, I would skip the renovation loan and additional requirements that come with it and keep things simple.If you don't have access to additional funds and don't have the ability or desire to work on the property yourself, and the property won't qualify for regular financing without some of the repairs, then I would definitely recommend the 203(k) loan.

With the recovery, an obvious value favoritism has grown for areas out this way when compared to Altamonte Springs (of course there are still high value and desirable areas in Altamonte). 

My wife and I both have high level education and, have the time and desire to work at the industry.

(As what happens frequently thanks to the rapid changes in technology) bottom line the industry was no longer fulfilling me and I had no desire to rekindle that flame.