My initial plan was to have all of my rentals be close to me (I live in Ohio), but now I'm starting to consider investing more in Florida.

I'd be looking to do some major renovations then refinancing after about 6 months to pull initial down payment back out.

When we initially signed tenants on, we had a massive amount of interest and found good tenants.

Not a deal breaker, but don't expect to keep your FHA loan and get rid of mortgage insurance if you put less than 10% down initially. 

My initial thought was this would be bad since there could be high turnover and more wear/tear on the property.

The time to buy would not be 7-10 days because the bank is involved but it would make it easier because I would not have to pay as much out of pocket initially.

Does anyone know how I could get the initial 20% to secure remaining 80% / 100% rehab hard money .

currently HELOC rate is at 3.00%, down from 3.99% a month ago when the 6 month initial lock ended (i have over 9 years left on my draw period). now the rate is variable. the bank is hinting that the rate on the mortgage will be around 3.5% fixed. i don't qualify for traditional mortgage on my dti (but i do double my income with overtime and bonuses, and my wife will have a new income as well once we relocate) so our family friend is cosigning on the mortgage with me. the bank is writing it internally at 15yr with a choice between amortized or balloon. the building will need a new roof in about 5 years, and leaving $35k in the HELOC for that would keep me happy, so i'm willing to go up to $100k down payment if it makes sense. that would change my loan to $179k from $223,200, but also would tap any funds i might have for improving the property other than the roof, like fencing in the backyard and converting the third floor to its own unit. the new rubber roof would be more like $20-$25k but i like to be conservative. i have heard of people using their heloc to pay down their mortgage principal, which i could also do, but it seems to be a gimmick, and even if not may it be easier to just get a smaller loan amount to start?

@Drew Wood Great initiative and goals (Getting out of the 9-5 is probably why most of us are here!)

Then, I usually have my contractor go with me on the initial showing.