If you have skills that can save you money, by all means invest the time.other value was by creating a 5th room in the unit.

I personally think out-of-state investing is a top choice.

@Don KonipolAll 3.I am a fund manager for my company, I personally also own real estate (rentals, land) and invest passively as well.Being the fund manager is what I am always most excited about.

I personally invest in Sacramento, mostly equity plays on buy and hold rentals, but am starting to flip properties again.

Am I supposed to return his deposit money within 30 days of him leaving?

Things change and the money will most likely be better used in a different investment at that point.

. - Would pivoting to hard money lending make more sense for my current situation?

We have a lot of money tied up in the unit and would like to find a rental unit the we would consider living in at some point with a house hack option/ADU and or a home that has a better long term appreciation potential. 

My opinion is while not directly correlated, when banks start losing money and increase in defaults lending tightens and large losses typically will lead to more job losses.

If you need the money now in cash, you may want to find a different buyer to work with.