If so, is my choice then only to do offline one-time payments through Zelle/Venmo/Paypal, etc?

Seller agent offering 4% to the buyer agent to begin with, wow...Anyway, at the end of the day the choice for the buyer agent is to either take $11k on a likely successful closing, or take zero because you can't meet the new bid price and he has to start over again to find you a new deal. 

When it comes to exit strategies, it is definitely a wise choice to choose a property where the LTR rental rate will at least break even for you; however, there are plenty of investors who take the risk of going all-in on the STR exit strategy when all other exits are not projected to be profitable.  

You have two choices, demo the entire lid and add new drywall or get a good drywall crew to skim coat the entire ceiling.

Like with any choice, there are trade offs. 

@Stacy Parkelj, my first choice always for purchasing vacation rentals has always been - places i like to vacation :) !!!

I’m thinking it was a smart choice so I can get to closing and repairs soon.I’m wanting opinions as if I should have went straight to getting a mortgage or not vs hard money.

This market has become very popular and is seeing positive cash flow. 

Joshua Tree is very popular with short term rentals right now. 

Once I knew my bottom line and what I could get for rent, it was an easy choice for me.