Money in hand sounds great, but my portfolio strategy (even though it’s currently small) is long term buy and hold.

Umm thats not how that works..Time is money and honestly (125k/468k) is a 1% return.

Unfortunately, this will take some time, money, and effort.

Granted I was signed up for multiple websites, but still that is a lot of money.

They have the money, they have time, but not pulling the trigger -- now that's our target.  

time = money

Any advice on how to invest my money in real estate while being the most efficient?

We lost money.

Juice is not worth the squeeze. linden is far from adu's making any sense. adu's are cost prohibitive from the beginning. we are talking $200+ per sq ft to build. the idea to build is to have equity. you can't build an ADU in linden and get the numbers to work on new construction at the lending of 75% after built value max thresholds. you'll be bringing money to the table over the minimum for what, to change the game?

It's not a waste of money at all if you choose a reputable company.