That said, if the circumstances warrant, you could agree to return the deposit as part of the buy-out agreement. 

Unfortunately, there are many who take advantage of someone starting out, so what should I keep an eye out for when looking for a private money lender?

On my first property we were planning a cosmetic flip based on the inspection report with a mediocre inspector and unfortunately once we got into it I spent close to $60,000 rewiring and making many mechanical and physical upgrades.

Unfortunately I think this only scratches the surface of your problems.

Unfortunately, there isn't any good fourplex in Austin as the number never cashflow even if I don't occupy one of the unit.

The unfortunate reality is that the national average is around 28k for hairstylists.I own my own salon suite, and believe it or not it's the most money I've ever made in my career so going back to a traditional salon is not an option I plan to pursue.I was planning to so a small multifamily (duplex or triplex), live in one side and rent the other out (my boyfriend would also be paying me rent as well).There is no shame in what you earn!

Our goal is to not have any lost income due to them breaking their lease, and not so much penalize them for a change in their circumstances.   

Many who have invested passively in real estate the past few years are in deals not going well and they are much more risk averse and are doing a lot more due diligence (unfortunately from lessons learned from not doing it previously)Plus as mentioned risk free return vs risk adjusted return does not make it very enticing for investorsWhen it gets to deploying capital we have more deals than we know what to do with.

yes unfortunately it only gave me residential options.

Switching online services is unfortunately not an option because the large majority of house seekers use zillow.