I think if you want to put in the sweat equity to do direct mailing, focus most of your energy in researching a specific property owner and specifically target a narrow property owners with specific marketing material probably better than spending money on large number of postcards. 

Just would like to add two things to this since everyone else did a great job explaining it: When selling, try to find a place to put that money that ideally offsets the capital gains.

Put out signs and lockboxes for realtors.Cold call for a realtor or investor.Create a handyman or property preservation business.Become a notary, so you can close real estate transactions.Go to work for a courthouse data service, so you're looking at and recording the posted data for them.Work for an apartment complex leasing apartments or doing maintenance.Work for a property manager doing make ready.Do anything and everything in construction.Become a home inspector willing to work weekends.Work as a sales rep or helper for a builder.Probably all these positions could use someone that wants to work nights and weekends.   

I bought it for $170K and 2.5 years later its worth $185K.Is it better to keep the rental (as part of my retirement planning) as a long- term investment or should I sell, pay off all consumer debt ($67K) and put the left over cash in IRA, 401K, HYSA?

Contact an investor asking for purchasing criteria and then immediately put the investor on a mailing list where they are inundated with automatic emails and recieve every new listing in the target neighborhooods, purchase price range etc.2.

I find my deals off-market and do some cosmetic updates.In short, it's not for everyone and many will fail trying to run this playbook from out of state (or even locally).There are still areas and markets that work, you just need to be more creative or willing to put more work in than you did in the past.

This puts their interests in line with the Landlord / Owner's interests on keeping the home leased. 

Ensure they have an insurance policy and put you on it as an additional insured.4.

So instead of paying rent, he is putting some money in his pocket.  

The way the deal would work as it stands now, he would put up about 65% of the money i'd have the rest and I will buy my way (via cashflow, and income) to 50/50.