The landlord has a duty to mitigate the risk and actively seek a new tenant.

Do any of you have any other areas you are interested in, or actively buying in?

You must be an active participant in the asset management of the property. 

@Marielle Walter I’m not sure how apprised some of the people on this forum are but as a RE professional and active investor, I find what your goals are to be quite achievable.

Would the play then be to pay for everything cash and later apply for a LOC on the new appriased value?

I might be able to increase rents to $225 even but that might be a big jump to put in play in the first year?

I am new to actively using the forums but would like to see who is out there and if there are any active groups or REIA's within the area.

Crime definitely plays a part in its current predicament.

Realtors still play an important role, of course, and I'm sure most can point to statistics that show higher average sale prices and fewer days on the market with a realtor versus without.

I live in Jacksonville, Fl but I am actively lookign into relocating to Tampa, FL.