The first one is the hardest to get off the ground, but there are ways - and you'll thank yourself down the road for doing so because real estate is a long game. 

Often times you will pay much more in taxes than if you pulled the money out, paid the taxes and penalty and then started investing in real estate.For example, with the financing you mentioned, the IRA must pay taxes on the portion of the profit earned by financing. 

@Jon D. some questions, the answers may help you better focus.1) Why did you pay your primary mortgage off in the first place?

They put one of their employees into one of my houses, and after I switched to a new property manager, that tenant stopped paying rent (amazing!)  

If the tenant is claiming to be living in a hotel, she may try to get you to reimburse for that cost unless section 8 has a new process to reimburse them for this... which sounds absurd but I'll let you deduce whether or not you're dealing with someone who is used to paying for things out of their own pocket. 

I noticed that the previous owner let them pay half the security deposit and the other half later, which is a red flag.

I was wondering if it is worth paying for BP pro membership for the special discount with Home Depot (e.g. flooring, appliances, etc). 

After all, you have no evidence they agreed to pay rent or any of the other terms.

Now, you need to figure out how to find deals and pay for them.

I don't see them showing up or paying any of the back rent that's due to become current if they wanted to stay.