Do any of you have some advice for this initial flip?

I have been preaching this on BP for years.

We don’t know any PMCs to recommend in the Cape Coral/fort Meyers area, but since selecting the wrong PMC is usually more harmful than selecting a bad tenant, you might want to read our series about “How to Screen a PMC Better than a Tenant”:https://www.biggerpockets.com/member-blogs/3094/91877-how-to-screen-a-pmc-better-than-a-tenant-part-1-services-and-processesWe recommend you get management contracts from several PMCs and compare the services they cover and, more importantly, what they each DO NOT cover.

while i do think it's valuable to analyze properties, it's really difficult to underwrite based on photos. 

I think every investor who takes the time to read and understand what he said would agree with @Andre Brock.

Now were back to a mare normal world where a person has to have that skill of forecasting, analysis, ability to "read the tea leaves" for where it's all going and if todays acquisition makes sense. 

Too many newbies "buy" what's being sold without reading or demanding to be given the "fine print".

I look forward to reading more of your experiences.  

Has anyone else had this same issue?

While fees are pretty similar between custodians, read the fee schedules carefully as there are sometimes others fees charged that aren't readily discernible.Good luck and happy holidays!