I aspire to get involved in buy and hold investing as well as flipping. 

It specifies the parties involved (you and the end buyer), and how much you will receive at closing.

@Zach Robbins I am primarily interested in multi-family rentals; however, single family may be a better bet for my first go at it. 

I haven't done a refinance yet but I can talk about the closing costs of my first deal (which I bought with a conventional 30 year loan):Underwriting fees: 600Appraisal: 675Title Fees: 1650Recording Fees: 150One year of insurance prepaid: 600Initial Escrow payment: 400So overall, I paid about 4k for closing costs as well, but I bet this also depends from area to area.

On a separate note, I'm seeing more and more people doing getting involved in these "silent partner" deals.

You have made some strong points as of why Tampa is a great market to be involved in right now.. and you are right.

There you will find real estate agents who are familiar with the investing side of things(not all agents are familiar with the creative strategies involved) and you will discover mentors.

There are no repercussions involved with giving a tenant notice to non renew their lease providing it is done legally.

This kind of deal likely will involve lots of trust with a partner. 

Get the previous owner involved have her sign another lease or remove her.