I would personally do the later, keep the interest rate, and start your rental portfolio.   

It's not my personal favorite and I don't focus in 38127 for my own investing but I know the area and have helped my clients acquire some deals here and they seem to love the zip code!

You can find a VA or a younger person to pay.

If you can't keep control of your personal finances, you are highly unlikely to succeed in real estate investing.

Personally I see money orders as a pain to deal with both for the tenant and for myself by adding unnecessary steps. 

We personally won't look at a deal where we don't think we won't make at least $50,000 after all expenses and closing... and truthfully we are usually wanting closer to $100,000 or more.  

I would suggest you have a separate bank account for your rental and your personal so you dont co-mingle funds.

Is anyone open to sharing referrals to a stellar property manager that covers South Tampa for my MTR House Hack?

It's going to be difficult to rent it by the room if everyone has to share one bathroom, especially if they are strangers.

If you're looking to get funding, FTF is easy to work with on the borrowing side as well (I haven't been through the borrowing process personally, but I know other investors who have).Happy to answer any specific questions you might have, and Matt and his team are always happy to answer questions as well.