Track all income and expenses of your projects in report form and review that regularly with people you trust in an attempt to reduce expenses and increase income.  

I think I'm on the right track!  

However, before we begin investing in Indianapolis, we want to travel there to visit some of the neighborhoods.At what point can we begin to track our expenses to write them off?

I'd appreciate any responses to help me see if my thinking is way off track.

You are the right track.

Each State may have different requirements on deposits into accounts bearing interest, so be sure to verify.Use your accounting system to track rents due vs rents paiddeposits paid vs deposits heldWith Quickbooks, use the CLASS feature to track physical property and your reports will nicely snapshot your tenants

I want to help you track down deals, evaluate deals based on your given criteria, and help you to work with contractors or other industry professionals in order to close deals, and build your business and your portfolio. 

Looking for a basic excel document to keep track of income/expenses.

My wife and I came up with this spreadsheet to track the expenses and income of each door and each property and all properties as a whole. 

Investigate a bridge loan to complete the project and fill it asap to get on track.