What surprised me is that we moved some furniture around and this was covered up in another room I don't usually go in......the exercise equipment is in there LOL. 

Also, you'd be surprised how much 'extra' time you will get each day if you turn your travel time into learning sessions listening to podcasts or audiobooks about the subjects.  

Surprisingly, despite his proven track record it has been challenging to find a lender to help leverage his budding Orlando portfolio. 

No, but I would be surprised if it contained any information that you couldn't find here for free.

With that much damage to the sill and shoddy work in areas you can see (makes wonder what's going on in places you can't see w/ a home inspection) sounds like you will surely have some unexpected surprises in the next few years.   

Therefore instead of focusing on the property tax alone, review all your numbers and calculate the cashflow - you might be surprised to find a good deal in a higher tax area. 

Our agent (who I believe is an investor herself as well as a BP member) seemed as surprised as we were.

Frankly, I'm surprised that anyone is able to make a living with the sheer number of people in the game right now down here.You have to remember that these five counties, especially Escambia FL were hit really hard in 2008-2012, so it's encouraged a very aggressive market for investors during the recovery.My own feeling is that too many people are now trying to flip in our area, margins are suffering, and the amount of available stock is being split too many ways.If you head north to say Escambia AL then your problem becomes value of properties, there just isn't the rental market, and its a poor county compared to the other 5 I mentioned.

. :-)I'm surprised that freddie mac went up to 6 for cash out refi but fannie mae is still at 4.

I was surprised, to say the least, since I'd never had this issue before, and I've lived in the home for 13 years.