I am now under the suspicion that their friend, the one who is still living at the property, is the one who created separate accounts for all three of them and did the signing for each individual who is under this lease agreement. 

If you continue filing taxes jointly the income you realize from your separate property will still need to be explained and redacted, regardless of the type of entity holding the real estate.

The break-ins happened on 2 separate SFH that are not located near each other.

House hacks are fairly straightforward regardless if the units are separately metered.

I also want to combine it to one $150k  30 year fixed loan instead of having two separate  $100k and $50k loans what options do I have can anyone help.I don't want to use my own money.

There may be something called a "Due On Sale" clause.Check and see if all tax parcels are included in one mortgage or if they have separate mortgages.You have to have him spell out what he considers to be a "partial seller financing".

They are all on separate parcels, paid off and occupied by long term tenants.

For separate entities I use separate files for each entity.

I have so many questions though.1) Can anyone tell me more about series LLC and whether it's necessary to hold each property in a separate LLC2) What are your thoughts on a trust, rather than an LLC - advantages, disadvantages etc?

My wife and I have jumped in and invested in two separate STR properties in the Blue Ridge area.