Are there any particular things to check when evaluating such a deal?

This has been asked and answered many times.Ship to house or your cleaners.Have cleaners setup stuff or hire a handyman for stuff that needs to be assembled. 

No and you need to put this on hold and research the condo nuke that's about to hit Florida in the form of new legislation that no longer allows condo boards to defer necessary repairs. 

Any tips to get the seller to come down on price or fix things to get the best value? 

When I got started I had a carlton  sheets video who used to come on late nights with his informercial and my best friend who purchased a property 5 months before I did😂.

I also looked at the old posts and google and haven't had any success with this topic. 

I’m looking to expand in the area as well.

It's all about timing and the ability to finance the property.

There are too many variables to get any kind of meaningful prediction.

If you are renovating your rentals you need to let the current insurance company know what is going on, if they send an inspector out there within the time you could get kicked from the policy too, and not easy to get back on one.