If the property is tenant occupied, you should require your tenants to have renters policies and lastly and just as important as the insurance you obtain is knowing all vendors you rely upon to perform work at the property and on your behalf are properly insured.

Creditors and lenders are not required by law to report to credit bureaus.

You'll likely want to start with reviewing the requirements under Prop 19 for retention of the base assessed value when adding a child to title, and also look up the rules for a basis step-up at death. 

All you need is a single place to track tenant information, payment history, maintenance, and other things.

What documents would you require before you contributed funds in any amount?

If there is landscaping that requires upkeep, there is a chance the tenant will not want to do that and over time it can become an eyesore. 

The original plan was to live in one unit (as requird by the loan terms) for one year and rent out the other, then move & rent both units after the 1 year requirement (currently living with relatives).

I would be willing to make a co-hosting deal if someone has contacts in the region, as my responsibilities in Maine require me to be here more regularly.

Ie a property with 0 repairs required, then a house with small repairs, then a full remodel flip  that included adding and permitting new bathrooms, removal of walls, doors, windows etc etc. 

Ideally to really keep everything separate you'll want to just have your LLC, and not your name, on it and that'd likely require a novation or a new policy(full cost of title insurance paid again).