You are stuck in the mentality that you can make these (or any) people happy.

I love having the extra money coming in and see the benefits of owning rentals but am now having a mental mind block to take the next unknown step to the next project.

dummy REI feels they are better off selling the rental property at a huge loss because it's too much of a mental drain on them to own it.  

As long as you don't think you'll be able to fix everything yourself, you should do fine.I wouldn't put heavy weight on the "do school first and then try to invest" mentality.

The mentality of "suck it up for a couple years" is what has gotten me to this state in the first place, I am done with jobs that are just a paycheck.

This is precisely the mentality that has so many homeowner's in trouble today.

I found a few properties to put offers on but now I find myself in a mental tug of war match between investing or paying off personal debt.

Drugs and alcohol, skip on bills and family, incarceration, severe mental and emotional issues, senility and death.

Plus knowing I was going to be following up with them put me on the back burner of their gray matter some what and they  were actually more ready to talk to me when I called instead of the I really haven't thought about it  square one type answer because they hadn't, your first call was basically in the discard pile mentally.

If you understand the investment and all the circumstances about investing in property out of your immediate range of distance and you are prepared mentally and financially, then go for it!