That's not a friend, that's just a business acquaintance or a workout buddy, they're not someone I'm going in the trenches for.

The problem with a cash offer using hard money is it still has to go through their underwriting and there is a 3 week turn-around, so the deal would fall through if something didn’t work out.

Since it did not work out to sell with agent, was thinking about trying the for sale by owner approach, but wanted to reach out to see if anyone had any advice on pros and cons, and any guidance. 

So, making a mortgage payment and a reasonable car payment might work out fine.

Use this experience to work out the kinks and build a strong boots on the ground team.

To many unknowns, and often does not work out well for the investor.  

If I need any of them to do anything extra for me, I just work out a payment for that one thing and pay them by action.

Because typically when I put a house up for sale, I will get a call from an agent that has (allegedly) a buyer, and they ask "are you willing to pay me 3% (or 2.5%)" and i usually work out something that works for both parties.But I wonder...is the buyer now responsible for paying their agent?

Once you have them served and file the papers with the court, the court will assign a First Tier Hearing - basically a mediation session where hopefully you are able to work out a move out date certain (with the tenant paying use and occupancy).

There are good reasons to like other cryptos, and good reasons to think they won't work out.