"This item is temporarily unavailable."

I just upgraded to a newer MacBook and I am trying to reset my old one for my roommate, since it's old but somehow better than her PC. The Macbook I am trying to reset is a (late?) 2008 Macbook Pro that someone borked by trying to turn it into a chromebook, and I installed El Capitan on it. When it was given to me a year ago, I put a new SSD HD and more RAM in it and after a short battle, managed to get it working. I have been using it for about a year with no issues.

Now I am trying to reset it, I am going through the reinstall process and I really can't get it worked out. I am getting the install error: "This item is temporarily unavailable." when logging in with either my Apple ID or my roommate's. I specifically remember having this issue with every mac I have ever been given, so I've done this before and I can't for the life of me remember how... With my new Mac, it sort of just worked...

I tried changing the date back in the terminal (date -u 010101002017), but when I go to install OSX, it asks me to verify my computer's eligibility and gives me the error, "an error occurred while preparing the installation. Try running this application again."

When I try to log into iCloud on Safari (Get Help Online--still in recovery mode, I do not have access to an installed OS anymore, since I stupidly wiped the drive already, so I can only boot into recovery mode.), the page remains with the loading icon in the middle for hours without changing.

Any help is appreciated! Please be patient, as my technical abilities are... basic.