I've had a good experience with them; they've paid for a couple issues that they missed when they turned the property over to me.Late last week I got an email from the maintenance manager at my property management company where the tenant had called because they were having trouble keeping the house cool (68-70 degrees) and it was also causing condensation to form on the ceiling and peel some of the paint and apparently also get into the light fixture.

Would you recommend this option of 'passive' income over traditional RE investing?

Traditional Self Storage logic says your market is 1 to 3 miles. 

Would you do 20% down and finance with traditional loans or buy outright one property at a time and BRRRR? 

Traditional IRA 5.

That’s the advantage and leverage as opposed to traditional seller.

We improved some bad electrical work (a two-pronged system that wasn't grounded) and did some light cosmetic paint as well as added safety features in a few areas.

I plan to discuss both with my traditional lender but wondering if anyone can advise who've worked with hard money lenders and/or which route above has proven successful for you. 

Here is an overview. https://www.reubenlaw.com/cali...I would also look into utilizing SB35 which is another state law that can get you planning approval within 60-90 days which is light speed compared to the 12 to 24 months it normally takes - or longer if there is community opposition to the project. 

One you will definitely want to join is the Coastal Florida Real Estate Investors Association meeting on the 4th Thursday of each Monday at Keiser University in Tradition.