They also have a home vacancy tax in a lot of areas which applies to short term rentals. 

I’m also open to exploring short-term rentals, private lending, or passive investing in funds—anything that maximizes returns while keeping risk and time commitments manageable.For context, I’d consider leaving my job if this could become a full-time venture that surpasses my current compensation (low-mid six figures).

Hard money loans can be an option, but they often come with high-interest rates and short repayment terms.

Short Term Rentals.

Bought it as a safe bet thinking it would do roughly $35k annually in short term rents.

The one that's short term and don't cost me a lot to initiate/originate.

In the short term, it will be more painful though.Personally, I'm not a fan of enabling bad tenant behavior and in life you get what you tolerate.

It's a long game, not a sprint. 

In short, the current PM ended up not having a valid broker's license to be operating as a property manager in the first place, so that's on me for not verifying ahead of time. 

Q2 is most important: If the mortgaage is upside down, it would have to be an approved short sale and that could take a very long time to rectify.