Plus if you are getting priced out of every other deal, moving too slow for on market houses, your realtor telling you that this is a bad time to invest, etc. then you may pull the trigger on a bad deal.

Goal would be to reduce manual work and time intensive tasks2.

Our property is a duplex with 2/2 units and he wants to move into one of the 3/2 units.

Did you tell the lender you were going to move into the property and then not move in?

The "right decision" really comes down to what YOUR goals were when buying this property.

Goal is getting rents to market at $950+/unit. 

Given your situation and goals, here are some strategies to help you take the next step and grow your portfolio further:1.

I accepted the 2.5 week wait because as a rookie I was worried I might not get someone else--the next day I had to turn down someone who would have moved in on our "available" date. 

Have you considered moving portfolio to long term? 

The only goal I had was to find/buy/create a deal... something other local investors would jump on.