In South West Florida, there is the SWFL REIA which in my opinion is a really good group with people that give you access to a lot of valuable information and people you can partner up with.There's also the Collier and Lee County Round table which is a lot more informal and also smaller than the one mentioned above.

The house I am looking to buy has a detached garage about ~1300 square feet and already has a bathroom in the property. 

It’s a 3/2.5 2200 square feet with two flex areas.

The owners may agree to carry part of the financing, but you won't need them to stick around to transition operations.After acquiring the properties and assets you wish, you would either run your own business, or part-out and resell some of the assets.From your post, it does not sound like parting out the properties is a viable path and where you admit to having no experience with vacation rentals or the resort business, you might want to explore purchasing the business with the current owners hanging around for a bit to help you get your feet wet.Regardless of approach, it needs to have legs to be worth pursuing.

I was able to get very similar numbers to the author (hard to get the exact numbers because the author rounds up and then summarizes 3 properties on top of that) when I changed the years of ownership to as follows:Property A - owned 4 yearsProperty B - owned 2 years 3 yearsProperty C - owned 1 year 2 yearsSo I guess my question to the community is, has anyone else ran the numbers and noticed the discrepancy?

They want someone to bring them Gatorade, a cool towel, and a snack mix while they put their feet up and earn passive income for years without knowing a single thing or listening to anyone except people who don't know anything.

Don’t jump into a 6 figure renovation - you don’t have the budget for that anyway, but just start simple to get your feet wet.  

She is thrilled in her new place and her family is relieved that mom is in a community with help just a few feet away.

Make sure you understand their plan for getting your money back and how they aim to provide returns.Staying informed is vital for newcomers—learning about the market, connecting with other investors, and maybe starting with smaller investments to get your feet wet.

There has to be a point where no matter how good the weather is, the risk of being mugged, or the proximity to a year round tent city makes you feel so uncomfortable you simply won't go there.