Also, using wrong pro forma figures (eg. using 7% vacancy instead of 20%) can be financially disastrous!

You'll also want to look over the financials to see how well the property is being managed and to make sure there is a healthy contingency fund in place.

You just need to be financially astute and be sure that you are cash flowing with enough buffer such that if something happens you aren't going under. 

Once your loan goes through loss mitigation and if there is no resolution then the bank will either foreclose or sell your loan in a very large pool to a hedge fund. 

However, I keep hearing that we are about to have another financial crisis....so I'm not sure if that is the best route. 

A few years after purchasing my home i found myself in financial problems and thanks for Dave Ramsey, i managed to pull myself out of debt without selling my home (thank you roommates).

Wondering what people are using to create and track their personal financial statements to include fixed assets and depreciation?  

How about asking for financials see what has been the rate for the last few years.

I'm preparing to make a couple of these investments in the next 6 months and trying to start by planning my financial life accordingly. 

If you have one of the major financial institutions (Fidelity, Schwab, Merryl Lynch, Wells Fargo, etc.) setup your plan then they as custodian will limit your investment choices to that of their offerings, usually stocks, mutual funds and bonds.