As far as insurance goes, get 2-3 quotes as most insurance in FL has doubled in the last year, with no natural disasters.

I'm in a similar situation where I've managed to grow a pretty good savings and have good credit, but due to my carefree nature, employment history has been "unstable."

One last thing....without knowing the "nature" of the tenant or reason for nonpay, a total rehab of at least that unit as a worst case also should be considered when/if an eviction happens.

Inheriting horrible tenants is often THE reason the current LL is selling to begin with.... they are done with dealing with them and have likely not run their business vey well and just want out..... if everything was smooth sailing and being run properly, then the current LL likely would not be selling....at least not at an attractive price.People's natural response is to fear change.... having a new LL is scary, so you have to realize you are dealing with someone that is on the defensive day 1 and not overwhelm them by coming in with a heavy hand..... small changes at first and much bigger changes as lease come due or you have turnover.....

As you mentioned, I would focus on one method as a new investor and focus only on that method until it becomes second nature.

The borrower(s) may have initially purchased the property as one of the following:a natural person;an eligible inter vivos revocable trust, when the borrower is both the individual establishing the trust and the beneficiary of the trust;an eligible land trust when the borrower is the beneficiary of the land trust; oran LLC or partnership in which the borrower(s) have an individual or joint ownership of 100%.The original purchase transaction is documented by a settlement statement, which confirms that no mortgage financing was used to obtain the subject property.

That will influence where you want to be close to, which will naturally lead to what areas to shop.If you'd like an overview of an area, please reach out to me!

On the other end, @Jonathan R McLaughlin, I think the nature of your transactions are way complex when compared to my humble upcoming start in turnkey rentals, but I get your point.Great recommendations @Lynnette E.; I don't mind (and actually like) keeping records on my own so I expect this to help a lot in reducing the fees, but the approach @Susan M. has taken in pulling and categorizing everything at the end of the year is very appealing; I will add that $100 per door you tipped me on as a rule of thumb to triage bad cash flow deals.

Don't like how it is more transactional in nature, less steady cash flow stream, can take some time2) Buy multi family - supply seems low, is LV a good market for multifamily? 

The privacy, off grid, natural setting near JT seems to be very popular right now for short term rental.