Since they have a lot of stuff in the house already, it's hard to determine accurately the state of the house which will be needed when they move out. - Should I still run the background check and everything on them/process them as a regular applicant?

The house has a detached garage with an attached studio (planning to reno & live in it).Currently renovating, but need help determining if the kitchen wall upstairs is load bearing and if I can remove it.

I would try to absorb as much free content as you can to determine how you want to acquire the rental property.

@Hanna Park  the wifi is probably the easy part; who is paying for the water and electricity and how much will be harder to determine in most duplexes.

How should we determine what happens with the property if either of us dies?

to be determined Lessons learned?

to be determined Lessons learned?

Cash flow is only one factor that determines if an RE Investment will be a good investment.  

This time of my life has taught me something: it's not how much you make, but how much you spend that determines whether or not you're financially stable.

You may want to consider working with a CPA in the future to save you the hassle of doing the return and to also provide you advice/suggestions.You may also want to see if the accountant can review the return you prepared to determine if it was done accurately.