Most (not all) HELOCs require that the property is titled to an individual (not LLC) and are full doc, meaning your employment history, income, DTI etc will be factors.

The big pros are the strong job market (lots of major employers), good population growth, and still-reasonable entry prices.

If you go back to work as self employed, there are some NonQM programs out there that can do a cash out refi after just 1 year of bank statements or P&L. 

The programs he's cutting employ a lot of good people and provide a lot of good services to the country.

One reason eastern KY really lags behind is that they don't have a lot of employment opportunities and lower populations.

The worst PM imitation I ever had the misfortune of employing

One thing to consider is that in terms of wealth building and Kiyosaki's Cashflow Quadrant, owing a rental and doing work yourself is putting you in the self-employed quadrant, not Business Owner or Investor.I think there are a lot of factors stacked against California for long term rentals, and I think you know it too! 

I have a pretty large emergency fund in place for those properties, but I wonder if that capital could be better employed elsewhere (potentially acquire another property).  

Moreover, I would recommend prioritizing a W2 position over 1099 self-employment/sales for two reasons.

Employment Growth Outpacing Housing SupplyBuffalo leads the nation in the ratio of new jobs to new homes permitted.