Usually you will pay for insurance on individual properties, and yes your liability and fire policy should be much cheaper than a homeowner's policy which is used for people occupying the home.

It just adds extra expense and lowers your credit rating.B. 

If we split costs 50/50 for everything, how do we factor that in to our taxes since each individual will have a loan in their name but the costs and profits are split?

As your primary residence, you should purchase the best house you can afford with your kids education and extra curricular activities in mind.Problem with SF public schools is the lottery system, but that's a whole other discussion.

I came away with a chunk of change, the respect of family and their potential business, and a couple extra grey hairs.The highlights of this experience?

I always try to pay for what’s in front of me and try to not speculate on rent increase etc. if I do manage to increase rents or pass expenses off to the tenants than that extra money is gravy. 

The guys that do that *usually* have decent paying day-jobs, and are more interested in having a bunch of paid-off properties for themselves or their kids when they retire than having an extra $150 per month right now. 

My understanding of the law is that if it's not separately metered, you can't legally charge tenants individually for it.

Condos for instance will charge HOA fees, limiting your net cash-flow.A PM will run 14-16%+ as they charge a month's rent to place a tenant, take an extra month to turn a unit and charge you premiums and overrides for the work.  

[So, can you see the result of adding all that extra income?]