I think the biggest issue is flooding ..

My biggest concern in locking in liquid capital in an account for a year with the possibility of "no deal" and having the ability to invest it somewhere else.Any thoughts or insight would be greatly appreciated.  

Go to REI meetings and start networking so that the biggest players in your market know who you are.

My biggest concern was selecting the correct type of financing:  conventional or cash. 

The biggest issue we had investing in Florida was finding a reliable contractor to help do the little work.

I'm going to reach out to our towing company and see if that's an option, it's much easier to let a 3rd party handle that process.Only downside is if you boot a bunch of cars in one location, could start looking like a ghetto, but I'm willing to try it.Tenants not in good standing will have to park way down the street type thing to avoid getting towed multiple times. 

You are buying in an exponentially riskier area, you need exponentially more upside (and less downside)!  

Regarding rents, indeed if market rents go up the management keeps all the upside (that's the downside of this passive/low risk model).In terms of rental income tax, I can shelter with insurance costs and property taxes. 

This is actually one the biggest (and so far most expensive haha) lessons learned I've had because I was so nervous to refi after my 1031.

The cash flow may be a bit better, but they also do not have the appreciation potential and have greater downside risk in a recession.