Selling your share at fair market value could avoid gift tax but may trigger capital gains tax for you based on the sale price and your cost basis.In California, the transfer may also trigger a property tax reassessment under Proposition 13 unless a specific exemption applies.

Quote from @Isaac Terry: I was looking at homes in Akron & Clevand, they are affordable but since I'm out of state I'm not sure about pulling the trigger on investing. 

You can put a mortgage into a "trust: without triggering a due on sale but again contacting your bank/lender is the best route to avoid any issues.Some banks/lenders or servicing companies change guidelines and even a trust may require other paperwork but the attorney usually facilitates that to be safe.  

If you can find that deal, pull that trigger.

@Kevin Hoover, with certain types of entities it is possible to contribute property to and distribute property from that entity without triggering a tax event. 

If I had an answer to my money issue then I would quickly pull the trigger on a good deal. 

When loans were called, was it due to specific triggers like delinquencies, insurance lapses, or low-interest rate portfolio loans held by smaller banks?

My Wife and I are going to pull the trigger in 2025 and are looking in the Central PA area to buy our first STR.

Had we scheduled the closing in the morning, there would not have been an issue.The only potential upside is that a disaster area declaration triggers changes in mortgage rules that could beneficial to the buyer. 

That would be for the deed, so use care not to trigger the acceleration clause with your lender.