I offered to purchase a portable unit for her to use and reduce rent to help pay for the cost of electricity for the summer months (~$50 a month), which she initially agreed to.

They keep their license active, reduce their fees, and earn referral fees. 

Crime ratings, school ratings, median income...Property Marketing - Let's face it, 99% of them advertise on Zillow or CL. 

Would I be able to collect a reduced commission when my only role in a transaction is lead generation?

Does not need to be in a strong cash flow area, but low crime rate or a crime rate trending downwards is a priority as it could become our primary residence within 5 years (in an ideal world, lol).

The payment on the HELOC reduces the cash on cash returns but the way I look at it is some money is better than no money. 

I would have to sell one of my two properties to reduce my living expenses and that is not what I wanted to do today.

The home should be listed for fair market value and will more than likely sell fair market value, all things being equal.If you can't convince the bank to reduce their recovery by reducing their net proceeds so you can make a profit, i'd move on to the next deal.

No good reason to reduce your cash position and pay higher rates at this point.

What expenses can you reduce usually?