My suggestion is to be patient and thoughtful. 

I agree with one of the comments below, follow what your friend is suggesting. 

The only item I would suggest is double check the payment terms of the your HELOC... in particular, can you pay interest only or are you required to pay a portion of principle each month on the amount utilized.

I've seen posts on here from a few years ago about rental portfolio dashboards, but all seem to be inconclusive or suggest a software subscription to have such a reporting tool. 

I think they can go very well if done right or poorly if not, and right.Here or a couple of suggestions. 

If you allow this to continue, they will only get worse over time, and your losses will increase.I suggest you hire an attorney.

I dont have any feedback for turn key REI but lots of experience with 1031X and my suggestion for you is to make sure you have a good idea of the exchange you're going into or at least the category of homes or type you're aiming for.

Use the two years to learn the area and I would suggest as soon as you can, find a duplex and start a house hack. 

That said since you want to get a graduate degree for work, I would suggest something business related.

Looking for some advice here - I have a 15,000 sq. ft. class-B warehouse located in an industrial park of the Chicago suburbs, near O'Hare:- Acquired for $1m and recent prices suggest I could sell for $140 per sq. ft. ~$2.1m- Cash flows at $140k annuallyI've been self-managing and it has been honestly pretty easy (send invoices, schedule routine maintenance/inspections), but otherwise I have no real knowledge or experience in the industrial space (I mostly invest in STR's).