3) Your $250k with 30% down => about $750k (you also need funds for closing costs, taxes, etc.)

I want to take advantage of growth if possible, but also want to minimize taxes and fees (penalties).

I do like the tax benefits and leverage.

Also I would buy tax deed land for say 2k sell it a few months later for 10k on terms that was my cash flow. 

so I used 1.5% as a property tax number, and I used $200 mo for insurance.

Ensure you collect a proper security deposit (typically one month's rent in Florida) to cover potential damages.Your plan to increase rent next year makes sense given rising costs (taxes, insurance, and maintenance).

As someone mentioned, the only thing passive about real estate investing is the tax treatment. 

High taxes.

I agree with the others here that say you need to have some skin in the game, if you are going to live there yourself, get an FHA loan rather than owner financing, you can get a 3.5% down loan, personally I do not love these as they require  PMI which is an additional expense, and you also need  bring additional funds for closing at least for taxes, title, attorney and transfer fees . borrowing from anyone else for the down payment, to include a personal loan from the bank is not a good idea, those again will be higher int. rate.

Your problem will be them incurring capital gains taxes simply so you can get a commission.