Your better bet is to find a long-term tenant to rent a room or more depending on how many additional bedrooms you have. 

This would be a non arms length prohibited transaction and would potentially result in the entire IRA being distributed is my understanding...the only way this could be possible is if the OP is or becomes retirement age in the next two years.

You can consider buying rental properties for steady income and potential appreciation, do house flipping for quick profits or explore REITs for a more hands-off approach.

I believe due to my citizenship, I could potentially get a hotel license (?)

The area seems it may be on the cheaper side of the close surrounding areas while at the same time holding the potential of having good cash flow.

-Researching Market Trends: Analyzing current market trends and identifying potential areas for investment.a.

I don’t think I’d do a STNL NNN property as the cap rates are still quite low, and it’s an all or nothing bet…and there have been plenty of formerly “solid” STNLs going dark left and right, and in all sorts of decent markets.

Network with other professionals for insights and potential deals.

Doing a refi now would move me from a 4.5% interest rate to somewhere in the high 7% to 8% range, so I am thinking of potentially selling.

Best bet starting out is to partner with a GP who can bring some experience/track record to the table.