For anyone else, it's an expensive and gross headache of a house. 

She was propping the door open to the heated hall, which I paid to heat! 

Here are some of the reasons why: Compared to an IRA, Solo 401k contribution limits are roughly ten times higher.There is no custodial requirement for the 401k.You don't need the additional expense and administration of an LLC to have checkbook control.There is a built in-Roth component whereas IRAs are either traditional or Roth, not both.A spouse can also participate in the same Solo 401k plan.The Solo 401k has additional tax benefits over an IRA when investing into real estate using leverage.The penalties for prohibited transactions are less severe, though it's best not to utilize this benefit :)

Most of the services I have used in the past were paid services and through architects. 

Having $30k-40k can be tight when you consider the down payment, closing costs, and other expenses, unless you qualify for a VA loan.Remember that if you don't qualify for a VA loan, most properties with assumable loans will require you to be VA-approved, as sellers don't want to lose their entitlement.

If I tried buying that property today, the expenses would be significantly higher than the income and it would be a bad investment.

Brickell has almost no MF for sale atm and is almost entirely high rises with expensive and tightly controlled HOAs.  

Move somewhere that isn't so expensive?

I know "change of use" frequently triggers major expenses like seismic retrofits, insulation and fire code updates.   

it doesn't cost a lot to put utilities and parking pads in or even entitle it or to purchase land. it's just a lot of work that no one wants to do. parks are hard to get approved but they are not expensive to develop. it's nothing but utilities and parking pads and an office. harder to finance too, but compared to apartment development or mixed use development it is one of the cheapest and highest performing assets because of reduced construction costs.