Readers are advised to seek professional advice.

If you have offered EMD and seller accepted the offer contract, depends on the terms and local law you need a rectified contract seeking for refund. 

Hi BP community! I'm looking for some advice on my current security deposit situation.My former (very disagreeable and difficult) tenant moved out and I mailed his security deposit settlement to him at his new address...

It is simply a means to diversify your savings into an asset that you may understand better and have more control over.For you to have access to the funds personally, you would need to take a distribution, which will involve federal and state taxes, as well as a 10% penalty for early distribution if you are under age 59 1/2. 

There are a ton of ideas, so determining what you are seeking would be the first step in my opinion.

Just thought I'd mention this because I see a lot of frustration with rental investors using hard money because rental investors look at cashflow whereas hard money looks at ARV; the differing goals/objectives can cause some misunderstandings.The other thing is to make sure you ask about prepayment penalties. 

If the funds are accessible, you should consider rolling them over to a Checkbook Control IRA/401k that allows you to invest in real estate within the plan, rather than withdrawing and getting hit with taxes and penalties.

For advice on specific sets of facts, seek attorney consultation. 

I would not suggest you take a loan from your 401k as there are usually penalties and significant charges that can eat away at your profit. 

It’s just not their main job to look out for the numbers we seek.