To make a decision on the route to take, you have to do some homework first which entails, learning how much $$ you have/need for each, how much financing if any will you be qualified for, what's your level of expertise in either, will you have partners going in, do you have the team of qualified professionals for each.

@Merri Grace McLeroy thank you so much!!

Property in San Francisco area, tenant late for pymt for the first time, extremely demanding & difficult to deal with (that shouldn't warrant an eviction though). 5 day grace period has passed, we are 3 days past due date and he is not being very communicative.

You should get professional help from a cpa, attorney, financial  advisor, real estate agent, etc  We help many clients in the northwest with the options and strategies that the self directed qualified plans can provide but usually they have a professional join the call that can help them make decisions that fit their particular situation and goals. 

And there are also a lot of tire kickers who claim to want to purchase but 9.9 times out of 10 are not qualified yet with a lender.

People use private lenders and hard money because they don't qualify for traditional financing, either because of the property type, or other circumstances (such as investment properties).

Also you may be qualified for FHA financing this way. 

Except, interest rates have gone up and now she doesn't qualify because she doesn't make enough money?

Do you speak to a lender (bank) to check and see if you pre qualify for a loan before you even start looking to purchase a protety?

I do not know about California home inspectors, but here in NY a "home inspector" is not qualified to use the word "Mold".