Even if you were local, this is always complicated, even if you have a hundred deals under your belt, and many investors never really do it well.Now, as I said earlier, there's a second aspect to your question that no one's talked about yet in this thread.

., my personal auto), or should I keep them separateSorry such a complicated question.

That sounds overly complicated mayng. 

Getting to a bank is obviously pretty easy but it's the individual owners or trusts that's complicated.

It's a fairly complicated topic, so I'll try and direct you to the right place.

Small claims only allows up to 5K, but we're out of state, that further complicates thing. 

The main issue there is we'll actually be paying more in total interest (deductible, but still net lower profit), and it'll blow up our debt-to-income ratio past the point where we could finance later deals.We only have a few days until close, which complicates things. 

A partnership is an extremely complicated endeavor and you absolutely need an attorney to help with this.

How complicated is it to dig another 12-18 inches in a section of the basement to be able to build a 3rd legal bedroom?

Sounds complicated, but someone with more experience might see an easy way to do this.