I don't want to spend the money to individually meter the units, it doesn't make sense financially. 

Obviously they can short sale and walk away, but I've heard that lately it is becoming more and more difficult to get a "complete release" of all debt obligations.

We knew that you had to ensure separate financial records, bank accounts and shouldn't purchase items for the rental properties from our personal accounts.

I'm also a first-time investor.After spending a few years saving and studying, I determined that investment properties were my best option for financial freedom.

Thankfully, I have not overpaid for a property :) I am using the BP calculators to evaluate the deals financially.I have financial backing and so I'm looking to partner-up with contractors and/or partners who have done big rehabs on small multifamily properties (2-5 units).

In the neighborhood of 100 a month which I doubt there would even be 50+ properties that I would need to be financially free.

Also, I haven't run financials yet but it would likely be higher than this

That is, it can probably do what you are wanting to do, but if in the future you run into financial problems, you lose both properties.

If you are only flipping a handful of houses a year, you can probably get by with a spreadsheet, but here are some important items you need to track/consider for tax season & business management:Tracking Project Expenses & Revenues to calculate your project Net ProfitTracking Assets/LiabilitiesProfit & Loss Statements showing Profitability of each projectTracking how much you paid each vendor/contractor for filing Annual 1099sActual vs Budget Tracking so you can see what repairs were over/under budgetBank reconciliation to make sure your accounting books match your bank statementsProvides a history of the business, so you can track financial progress or pull past financials in case of an Audit

If looking at this correctly, it will place us essentially into the "financial freedom" area we've been striving for (but we will still keep our day jobs).