I’m also at a life stage, where I’d prefer to just live with my partner and not rent out individual rooms in my unit.When I move out, the rental income would sometimes just barely cover the mortgage and taxes (usually not even insurance).

Most PM software won't be worth the cost at this point depending on your budget.At this stage, a good ole Excel/Google Sheet will do for keeping up with your income/expenses.

As I have been building my foundational knowledge for investing, I am at the stage where I am also wanting to keep up with the market data that, so I may better understand the specifics of the market of my choice.

We just recently finished a project where the 960 units were arranged together as duplexes out in Yucaipa.

What would you recommend for people in the early stages?

Since I am rehabbing, I am not at that stage yet, but since you have 8 you probably have a lot of experience with Decatur tenants. 

Far too many get stuck in the "paralysis by analysis" stage, thinking they just don't know enough to get started.

At this stage, you want to ensure that the property is cash-flow positive, meaning the rent covers expenses and leaves a profit.4.

Or in the early stages ask for more detailed financials for the last rolling 12 months, and come back with that data early in the process to weed out those who won't budge?

Good opportunities, early stage opportunities, may not have the best online presence, but be otherwise legitimate.Also IRR is a vanity metric, it's the wrong measurement.