I am not too familiar with rest of Florida markets and trying to narrow down to 3-4 locations that generates competitive returns and high occupancy rates I would like to be as close as possible to the beach given the price. 

While these markets will be competitive, you'll be making more money by doing the same amount of work.

What is the competition like?

Should have been flagged, I know there are no perfect tenants, but I hope your PM did most of the heavy lifting in evicting and getting you another tenant?

I want to start finding deals for others but need some guidance on how i can do that in this competitive market in the DMV area.

Or do we get a HELOC and just pay in cash for a house because "cash" is better in this competitive market (not Denver, a cheaper area), but then we probably only get one property?

@Parag Goswami I do agree with @Brian Burke, but in addition, the markets are uber competitive in multi family, the faster you can close the better it looks for the seller.

After losing out of a few offers in a super competitive KC market, a house that had been pending came back on.

Because of the restrictions for cars, you may be better off from a tax timing perspective if you replace your business car with a heavy sport utility vehicle (SUV) instead of another car.

Look at your comps and stay in that range of renovation unless you can outdo your competition without breaking the bank.2.