I've not looked at what I could get for rent ahead of time, like you have, but it's a large apartment with 1 bedroom, 2 other rooms (office plus bonus room, etc) plus a brand new open concept kitchen, with its own separate entrance and garage access. 

You're already ahead of the curve.

With your wife’s connections there, you’ll also have a head start in building a local network.Beyond Orlando, consider expanding your search to areas like Ocala and Sebring.

Congrats at already looking at real estate as an investment vehicle!   

Valid options would be:-Cash Out Refinance on a vehicle.

Would it be braindead to turn them into tenants or should we go ahead and evict them? 

It could look like you were attempting to take out profit ahead of a 1031 exchange. 

With a 0.65 (1st yr) & 3.5 (2-5 yrs) rate I can accelerate payments to stay ahead of the game.

According to them, it could be challenging to find tenants if I go ahead with the purchase.I wanted to get your thoughts on this.

Congratulations, your ahead of the game already.