Buy in a desireable area and it will be easy to rent out rooms.

Those properties will sit on the market for months and then wind up being occupied with a less than desirable tenant. 

Cap rate is a measure of how desirable the properties are in certain markets.- Just within this thread, there are at least two posters saying "higher cap rate = higher risk".

IMO, these are more desirable as a long-term investment because you're not beholden to an HOA, and if you buy right, I think you'll realize better cash flow.I live and invest here and would happy to answer any other questions if I can be of assistance.

It's in Tampa near the water so I just figured it could fit the more high-end, modern look that is desired there than the old school low ceilings.

Definitely don't have the time/patience/desire to reproduce an IC site!

I desire to network with other cash buyers, very motivated sellers, and creative & aggressive real estate agents.

I think I will join a meeting or two, I don't have any experience in Multi Family yet but I do have a desire to get involved with that some day so I imagine I could learn a thing or two from the meetings.

I will be posting a full account here once the issue comes to the conclusion desired.

From my perspective, if you are getting a property at a price of 17K that has a ARV of 79K, there must be a lot of work needed (and possibly other factors that make the property non-desirable at the moment).Although you can make a lot of money via fix and flip through problem-solving, I think you will need to disclose more information about the property (address, info on rehab cost, how are you are getting this ARV, etc) before you can get a good answer to your question.I would suggest connecting with a local realtor there for more help, or seek out someone on BP who is active from the area (even a property manager could help) to assist you with sorting this out.I have some experience with fix and flips in my past, and they are absolutely nothing to play with for the beginner unless you have a lot of cash set aside for the unexpected (and there will be unexpected costs) or some experience in a trade where you can offset cash for your labor.Good luck and happy hunting!