It would be easier to convince a relative to let them move in temporarily if they know they'll have their deposit more quickly.We were forgiving of minor stuff and just counted our lucky stars if they at least mostly emptied it out and didn't leave a giant pile outside and it wasn't in unreasonable condition inside. 

In the middle of a giant rehab (for me) on one of my complexes.  

You have 1 giant failing to your math on how "great" the $25k was of a return, labor costs.You say it took "all my free time for 3 months", by my conservative math that comes to 360 hours, and most likely more. $25,000 / 360 = $69.44....

Why rush it when you just made a giant leap forward in your own personal goals and live/work balance? 

In addition, it is key to ONLY buy property problems you can readily fix/ resolve and by your question this is a problem outside of your wheelhouse and that is a giant risk with high fail% potential.

I have a giant spreadsheet that captures all regular expenses.

Columbus has experienced so much growth for the past few years, partly due to the influx of tech giants like Intel ($20 billion), Meta, Amazon, and Google building warehouses and data centers in the area, which has contributed to an increase in property prices and more people moving into the city for job opportunities.

Whale oil was a giant industry, then along came this Eddison guy and his light bulb and "poof" that industry is dead.

Then, that winter, the steam heat system froze, and we got a call from a neighbor about a giant icicle hanging off the back of the house.

Including giant swaths of there books being taken and transferred to a "servicer" of capacity.