If you are obtaining a loan, however, some of these may trigger problems with the loan unless its repaired before settlement or you use a renovation loan, like a non-operating water heater, leaks, and water damage in the basement, so that may be a factor as well, depending on severity of issues.  

I obtained my real estate license last year, and have been operating as an agent for the last several months gaining tons of experience.

An Annual Permit: In Monroe County an owner or agent is required to obtain an annual special vacation rental permit from the Planning & Environmental Resources Department for each dwelling unit prior to renting any dwelling unit as a vacation rental unless an exemption to the vacation rental permit has been issued for the property as provided in Section 134-1(b) of the Monroe County Code.Initial Special Vacation Rental Permit Application Fee: $490.This application and fee is for initial applications only, not renewals.Renewal of Special Vacation Rental Application Fee: $100.This application and fee is for renewals only.NOTE: A special vacation rental permit is nontransferable between owners.

Forgive me if this seems naive, but what is the real benefit of having cash when investing in real estate vs. being able to obtain financing?

You'll see closer to 1% in Baldwin County and 2% or close to it is obtainable in Mobile County. 

I hear financing is hard to obtain so investors have a harder time selling manufactured homes.

Based on my reading of the Sonoma County webpage regarding short term rentals, a vacation rental permit seems much more obtainable than in Napa County if the following conditions are met:- Has to be zoned as AR, RR, R1, LC, LEA, DA, or RRD- Have less than 5 guest rooms- Need to pay the Vacation Rental Zoning Permit Fee ($849.00)- A Certified Property Manager is required- And you have to fill out a bunch of formsAs far as I can tell, there isn't a limit on then number of permits that can be issued by the county.

An effective strategy can be to obtain (at a discount) an assignment of the 2nd mortgage holders rights, and similarly to obtain a subsequent assignment of the 3rd lien. 

The title issue seems to have been ironed out, the bank has already paid for title work that is updated for settlement, that cost goes to costs of obtaining the collateral and it's already paid for.

Oh and after I obtain my License & whatnot, Soon I'll be seeking an Intern Position so that I can gain that hands-on/ one on one experience!