One thing you might add to your list of "to do's" is create a "Walk Through Form" for the tenant to sign when you give them possession so down the road there are no disagreements over the condition of the property when it is time to disperse their security deposits when they eventually move out. 

I wouldn't be too worried about distance to the beach not all Floridians need to be in walking distance to the ocean :)Good luck on your search.

So you and your agent need to look at the data for comparable pending and (very) recently sold homes, as well as whatever active homes may be available - because solds and pending aside, the value of this prospective home will be comparatively lower if there are 15 similar homes on the market for buyers to look at compared to if there are just one, two, or zero other homes like this for buyers.And I know it's tough with HUD homes because they don't take escalators, but in the end, armed with your market analysis data, you need to bid your 'walk away' price, meaning that if you bid a dollar under what it goes for you'd be OK with not getting it, rather than kicking yourself and wishing you had bid a dollar more.

The second appraisal came in at 49K of which the bank will loan 39K which leaves me short for the outstanding 54k balance.I finally had enough and expressed that I felt I was walked into a bad deal and I was mislead about the entire thing.

I'm not in love with it, the house is kinda small and I'm expecting it to need a new roof even though I havent actually walked through it yet.

3) That you're not putting $0.01 in escrow, so you can walk any time without penalty?

The calculator is free, it's accurate as long as you know what numbers to plug in, and it helps you think about line items you might forget to include, like closing costs, which can impact how much cash you walk away with.

Unit is in a great location, shops, restaurants, beach all within minutes of walking.

Call and walk through the entire deal with your lender before doing anything.

Even though I will be spending some time with my team during my visit, I would love to get some additional suggestions about how to best maximize my three days there (i.e. attend a local REIA, driving/walking neigboorhoods of high interest,etc.).