I'm happy to share my experiences with you, hopefully it'll lend a little bit of perspective.

I could learn a lot off of David from a marketing perspective.

Knowing my end goal is to move to another state (Sperryville or Staunton, VA) and 3-4ish hours away to start a small hobby farm, does it make sense to pay off these properties rapidly in the next 5-6 years so that I have a total clean slate from a lending perspective in order to finance the land, house, and buildings, or does it not matter?

The latter also encourages them to leave the place in good condition and to make it available for showings (with 24 hours' notice and grouping showings-never leave perspective tenants alone inside if the house is occupied).

Of course, happy to offer different perspectives.

@Ashley Guerra - I live and invest outside of Philadelphia, so I can't comment on your specific markets in central and south Jersey, but can provide my perspective on things to think about to help your decision.1) I would consider speaking to 3-5 people/investors in each market you are considering (central and south Jersey) to listen to their thoughts on pros/cons of the area and how they invest.

Right now though its just so hard.If anyone has been where I am now with just being fed up with it all and you can let me know how you handled it-- or if you have any sort of perspective you can offer I would really love to hear it. 

-Your experience with 2bdr vs 3 vs 4 from a revenue perspective.

Different perspective...... 

It would give a different perspective on real estate from people who support the industry.