Some are individual, others are shared by two units.

If you are the only owner of the properties, then when/if the time comes you should be able to roll them into a corporation under a Section 85 election and not incur a taxable event (you will want to plan for this with your accountant).Even when you do place your holdings under a corporation, you will not want to place individual properties into separate companies; the accounting and reporting overhead would be expensive.

Both of these areas appeal to thousands of individuals.  

My question is, for tax purposes do we need to do anything else other than just declare our income and loses individually?

I recommend setting up keyword alerts for each area as they are discussed in the forums daily with advertisements posted in the BiggerPockets marketplace hourly.One thing to note when looking at the individual markets, you can make or lose money in any market.

This lender could be the seller (seller financing), a private money lender/individual, or another lender who has advertised their desire to take 2nd position loans (although this 2nd position will likely be more expensive).

1) If each property is in a separate LLC with its own checking account is it possible for rents to be paid to individual checking accounts of each property?

Looking to connect with like minded individuals, both locally and abroad, to grow and learn with, to challenge and encourage....and possibly work together to analyze and finalize on some solid deals!

For some reason I can not find an insurance provider in Tampa FL to a house I wish to rent to unrelated individuals using one contract.

House-hacking is a great way to get started, there' s a huge market for those looking to rent individual rooms in Denver, have you considered that approach?