And of course making a quicker financial gain would be a nice start but I do 100% ultimately want to own income properties. 

It's the starting point to becoming financially free, and out of the "rat race". 

I will always tell the individual I have a real estate license.

I would like to start keeping books on my properties vs having their financial information buried in my personal finances.My questions for the community:1) If my goal is to eventually seek financing from others and therefore I will need P&L Statements and other reports on my properties, what software should I use - Quickbooks, Buildium, etc?

Also, for economic purposes, by placing home in LLC (a business), children will be elgible for more college financial aid since the business assets for a closely held company with few employees are exempt/not counted under federal financial aid laws but are counted when it is our personal name.  

Heat and hot water included (no individual meters).

In most cases taking a loan out of your 401k is not a wise financial choice. 

My current income is good, but financial freedom is my goal!

I want to be the one FLIPPING these houses and making a difference in dilapidated neighborhoods but I don't have the financial backing so I just feel like a kid in a candy store with no candy money.

Let me first start off by saying my oldest child is 3.5 years old so I know things will change many times before she sets off to college.That said, after reading an article about the uses of a 529 plan, it mentions that it can also be used to pay for off campus housing, up to the cost of on campus housing reported by the schools financial office.