If I would have bought a sustained portfolio with multiple units rather than starting with a single purchase I truly believe I would have lost a lot of money while my systems flailed rapidly attempting to catch up. 

You are losing money on both properties. 

As you indicated yourself, it's mostly throwing away money because you have nothing left at the end of the lease.

If they do, your best bet is a local community bank that funds these types of properties.Another option is a private lender but that money will be pretty expensive, as mentioned 10%  + 

Unfortunately, unless you see the underlying financials as well as supporting data for those financials, you do not know whether there actually was cash from operations to pay your distribution or not. 

Given the market conditions and your hard money loan, it might be wise to first calculate your monthly holding costs, including loan payments, taxes, and maintenance.

The truth is if your investors have no involvement in the operations, If they just put in money and expect to get a profit, you have created a de facto syndication.2) I see a ton of people who just raise money for the syndication. 

If you have a residential earnest money dispute its very different than negotiating a national retail NNN lease.Transactional vs litigationResidential vs commercialThose would go a long way to finding the best referral for your needs 

At least you'll probably get most of your money back when the deal gets refinanced or sold.

Tracking can be done in property management software, a spreadsheet, or even a piece of paper and a pencil, as long as you can account for who's money is in the account.