Since I'm working my agent pretty hard and this is a minimal commission I'll go ahead and pay the fee without significant whining, but it probably should have been brought up prior to the actual contract being drawn up, so live and learn!

Honestly at this point you should just be looking to minimize your loss because you made a big mistake in buying it to begin with.  

Only problem I have is I only have 40k in the bank but also have a steady income of $3,800 a month with minimal expenses (Still live with parents, owe 20k in student loans) Is this property affordable for me and what is the minimum I would have to put down as a 1st time home owner?

I have to assume is totally valid.To minimize my losses, I'm thinking to do the following and I'll greatly appreciate your feedback if it is feasible/possible:Unless I'm mistaken, there is a 10 day redemption period in Florida for the homeowner to pay the $13,00 and cancel the HOA foreclosure. 

Take advantage of the opportunity to leverage your income to buy properties using your job income and personal credit.Carry high amounts of insurance coverage to protect your minimal assets until they grow enough to need an LLC for asset protection.Delay the "good things in life" to buy assets (properties and ROTH IRA investments) that will provide streams of income for years to come.

(I've even picked up the tab both times, which was pretty minimal).

An experienced estate planner or accountant maybe able to help minimize those tax liabilities.

And mine had really minimal fees to set it up.

Do half and half and track it.I've sent out mostly hand written postcards and have had very minimal response rate.

Consider using trusts to minimize your fees with your custodian and gain speed in your transactions.