Replying to Help with bikes?

hey desperately trying to fill my life with distraction now the season is over and i’ve got into bikes.

i have an older hard tail kona mtb that i’m learning the ropes on and will probably use as a gravel/touring bike as well. also have a single speed flatbar.

my questions are:

would the mtb work as a gravel bike considering it doesn’t have those holes for mounting bags and panniers etc?

also — thinking of selling the cheapo single speed because as much as i love riding it it does top out at a certain speed and i want to upgrade to a properly geared drop bar road bike because I want to work on actually getting better at cycling.
are there any brands that i should keep an eye out for that aren’t complete garbage but aren’t going to be over $800 because i don’t have a dentist salary

thank you and have a great day

**This thread was edited on Oct 11th 2021 at 9:16:03am