It was taking weeks and months to make small progress on these properties, and I was getting discouraged at the lack of progress.  

Take their ARVs and cost of rehab with a grain of salt.

Thanks for clarifying.I guess it takes a little while for the fix to propagate... still getting the banned error when I go to my inbox.R

There are opinions on these forums and people have a right to them and people may take it as criticism. real estate is not a business where everyone is friendly and just as you have shown from whoever was trying to scam you and has nothing to do with doing your best, its about being educated before moving forward. 

I tried shopping around but no one would take me since I had a sewer collapse claim last spring.

Title VICIVIL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Chapter 83 LANDLORD AND TENANT View Entire Chapter 83.49 Deposit money or advance rent; duty of landlord and tenant.—(1) Whenever money is deposited or advanced by a tenant on a rental agreement as security for performance of the rental agreement or as advance rent for other than the next immediate rental period, the landlord or the landlord’s agent shall either:(a) Hold the total amount of such money in a separate non-interest-bearing account in a Florida banking institution for the benefit of the tenant or tenants.

You’re in a win win situation no matter what however I guess you would also want to take in account any major cap x repairs that might be coming up soon in the future you might want to avoid paying. 

(I am looking for private lenders who don't charge interest but rather take a portion of the profit.)I emailed the support desk for a refund. 

Take pics of all the junk (I mean high class heirlooms, which is what you'll say in the ad) and put it on craigslist asking for offers.

Good things take time.