I have to turn away tons of people who want slightly different dates but there are plenty of people who are willing to sign a 3, 4 or 5 month lease even if they are not occupying the rental for the full length of time.With the other unit, I will sign any sort of crazy lease period because I know I can fill in with STRs.

I’m sort of in the same boat.

We do not have yet have any sort of inked deal with this person.  

I would find out any sort of taxes or additional costs that are associated with selling the unit and analyze what you can do with those funds afterwards.

I've run a few properties through the calculators here on BP and it's hard to get an idea what sort of cash flow and/or appreciation is possible. 

I do not have many people around me with an interest in real estate and I’d like to start being around/talking with other investors and possibly go to meet ups together and things of that sort.

ARe there normal ways to do this or do I need to do a personal loan of some sort?

Would that cause any sort of legal issues.

Let me know what sort of information you’re looking.

Get the book Photovoltaic Design and Installation by Ryan Mayfield on Amazon on paperback, or Kindle and read it carefully before you install solar so you know exactly what will work, what will not work, exactly what type system you need and then when you talk to solar installation companies you will sort of know what you want.