This convenience and leverage can justify the higher cost of these loans.Personally, I prefer using a HELOC because I only have to apply once and can then tackle one or two projects at a time.

Most (not all) HELOCs require that the property is titled to an individual (not LLC) and are full doc, meaning your employment history, income, DTI etc will be factors.

Though I would caution you on hard money lending until you understand the industry a bit better, that can be very rewarding but you have to be able to do your due diligence on deals because you're turning over your hard-earned money to an individuals project, often a flip. 

Just my personal opinion - get a mentor or a person who already has good experience running STR business, preferably in your area (but not 100% required). 

I also enclose below the text of the relevant section for ease.https://www.flsenate.gov/laws/statutes/2020/553.79QUOTE(14) A building permit for a single-family residential dwelling must be issued within 30 working days of application therefor unless unusual circumstances require a longer time for processing the application or unless the permit application fails to satisfy the Florida Building Code or the enforcing agency’s laws or ordinances.UNQUOTEThe previous link to the City of Cape Coral citizens portal lets individuals see permit details for a specific property address, the progress with applications, and if not using a private provider the status of inspections.  

We currently accept rent from tenants using a variety of 3rd party apps-Cashapp, Venmo, Zelle but are moving away from accepting payments in our individual names and want to start accepting payments directly to the LLC/business accounts, but LLC accounts do not accept Zelle and there is a fee for using business accounts on Venmo.

Hey @Zach Howard,Happy to connect with you and put you in touch with some solid individuals in Augusta, GA.

I'm looking for super low cost, or preferably free.

While that may be good for the 10% pref investors, you may have been better off holding another year and getting another 7%.Related to this, I generally don't like preferred returns as a passive investor. 

kind of like prosper and those type of companies ( which I cant see loaning money to individuals totally unsecred like a CC company ) that seems like super high risk.