Regular homebuyers in your area might be buying a 300k house for 9,000 commission. 60k house you have to sell 5 for that 1.It  always amazes me that some investors think brokers or agents are an object to be used to meet their objectives.

You're going to pay taxes (regular income / short-term capital gains - both the same) no matter what.Double closings do have double closing fees, though some title companies won't charge a full double fee because, for example, they don't have to do the title work twice.If you're trying to prevent the seller from seeing what you're making, you can do a blind hud, or blind disclosure, or whatever it's called. 

Could clean up the yard and to some routine maintenance on the inside and re-list with a local realtor?  

I'm not sure if this is a good or bad idea, or if I should just stick with a regular tenant for my first rental, as I've got 3 other decent applicants. 

I am W-2 and I pay full mortgage for my regular live in house.

If you believe the rules or fining schedule are vague or might not cover your situation, have a knowledgeable Real Estate Attorney, that routinely handles HOA matters, review them and provide you their opinion and advice.

At the same time, 2 minutes' research shows that the regular cost is above $500, and that's the ballpark I heard from several attorneys I contacted. 

@Jeannette Tang A great way to house hack these days is to rent a 2-5 bedroom unit and Airbnb the rest of the rooms to other guests, the cash flow will be very high compared to a regular rental property, but it will not be comfortable doing it with a spouse because there is not a lot of privacy.

You may find they are behind on rent regularly or that they have unauthorized pets or people living with them.

Any good investor friendly agent is looking for more of a partnership than just a regular client relationship.