Steve,I would recommend completing your profile, throwing up a picture and letting the community know a bit more about yourself to add some weight to your request.Sounds like a good opportunity for someone looking to learn the ropes. 

@Gary MontgomeryYour first year is going to be the most difficult because you will not have any tax returns as a SE investor, which is heavily weighted for bank underwriting. 

Your responses may be the missing pieces in understanding why the properties have been on the market for some time and the drastic reduction in prices.

If the property is on the market 3 months and there have been no price reductions to bring it to reasonable market value, then that tells me that they are NOT motivated to sell.

Groups like SOFI have rates that improve as your credit improves, so keep checking what's possible regarding student loan payment reductions.

Consolidation will just do a weighted average of your loans where refinancing you should be able to get a lower interest rate.

I'm determined to become successful and financially free, but feel as though if I keep hanging out with him it'll be like an anchor or at least extra weight that'll slow me down on the path I want to take in life.

That's the weighted interest rate of all your debt on that property if you take out a $300k 2nd at 7%.

Weight out the options with money today versus money tomorrow.

A QCD is a light-weight way to change ownership without doing a full title investigation.