You don't need to be a savvy graphic designer either, web-based graphic studios like Canva and Pixlr make it extremely easy to make all of your own marketing material, and the best part is they are both free to use.

If you want to yield double digit returns, investing in real estate is your safest bet.

Now, was Wall  Street to blame, Yes.Were lenders and loan officers to blame, Yes.Were borrowers who had no income, jobs, and horrible credit history to blame for taking out loans that they had no possible way of paying back, you bet.  

Seminole Heights/Tampa Heights is probably your best bet.

As an aside I would be willing to bet that many of the successful investors on BP don't need the MLS but use their networks to find deals.  

In order to start a business, you need money - for advertising, web sites, etc. to start, so you can begin to generate a flow of leads into the business.  

However, one of the tenants stays home during the day so I'm betting she will want it warm all the time.

I realize it is a risk to be a long distance LL but it may be your best bet for low entry price point and high ROI.  

Although I'm betting it will be the most fun to use 

Government websites are  notoriously difficult to navigate, as are their web of codes that all refer to other codes, as you've probably already seen.