You are going to turn off a lot of lenders with your post because you are clearly going to shop every term sheet that's turned over to you with a focus exclusively terms with no regard for the servicing, loan administration and most importantly what that loan officer can offer you in the future.

If it was a primary it would be different but HELOC's on investment properties have crazy terms and typically you're still capped at 75LTV. 

It really makes sense to me to hold onto the duplex or condos if you decided to split them for the long term and keep your focus on scaling with your HELOC and $15k saved, but again I am not sure what returns you are seeing if you do a 1031.

He's living in one side and the other side is doing great as a short term rental.

Any flipper will build so much long term wealth having a good relationship with a realtor than without one.  

Are there any members here who currently have Short-term rentals in North GA?

Maybe communicating it more will help, but you cannot make people read.As a guest I would find making my own bed especially after a long drive or flight would be annoying. 

I predicted a 20 to 30 percent correction in prices this year, and I was dead wrong.It appears that investors are continuing to come in for the long haul, with the knowledge that positive cash flow isn't realistic in the early years of ownership.

I wouldn't take out a HELOC and purchase a turnkey property as a conventional loan would have better terms. 

For example, we have been looking closely to the Beverly/Burlington NJ area, but we are definitely not constrained by location as long as we are within ~1hr from Staten Island.