In an environment where rates are decreasing you could temporarily get a larger reduction in monthly payments and (hopefully) be able to refinance at a lower, permanent rate sometime in the future.

In my experience these are the levels of how financial fraud is doneLevel 1 - The “sponsor” is a fraudster from the beginning and the entire investment is a designed fraud designed to steal the investor's money Level 2 - The sponsor initially intends to operate legally and honestly but the temptation of easy access to money, usually fueled by addictions to drugs, sex, partying, etc. leads to the bad decision to line the sponsors own pocketsLevel 3 - The sponsor intends to operate legally but a crisis in their life resulting in a need for money leads the sponsor to “borrow” from investor’s funds with the full intention of paying it back ( which they are unable to do).Level 4 - The sponsor intends to operate legally but the assets under their management incur substantial loses; the sponsor attempts to cover up these loses by “temporarily” borrowing from one investor to pay another or submitting false results.

However, if circumstances do indeed change over the course of the loan, there shouldn't be a penalty involved if you move into the property down the line for unforseen / unintended reasons (such as maybe in a couple of years there is a family emergency requiring a need to temporarily move into one of your rental properties etc)

I am also concerned that when the economy starts to weaken, the more rural areas will get even more challenging.  

You can wait for the tenants to move out on their own or allow them to move into a newly renovated unit at a temporarily discounted rate. 

Even though some of my debt is variable and that’s weakened my D/I slightly, I’m still in a very good spot.

You do this so that during the month, after your deposits are made and before you start paying your bills, your HELOC Balance is temporarily at its lowest point for the month.

And I prefer to invest close to where I'm living.I am listening to podcasts and I have a stack of books to read as soon as i finish getting my home on the market so I'm not stopped, just temporarily frustrated. 

This is a technique that temporarily stays the foreclosure.

This temporarily lowers your payment as if your rate were 1% less or 2% less.