Granted it has not sold yet but barring a potential catastrophe (knock on wood) I should come out of this one looking pretty good and ready to move on to number two.

I guess this idea is for people who are worried about some unforeseen catastrophe where vacancy spikes in their area and all of their rentals go vacant...

Unless the properties achieve unheard of increases in appreciation, I'll be one catastrophe away from not being able to save up enough down payment and the required cash reserves to refinance within the next 5 years.The seller has had these properties on the market off and on for about 2 years and state they want to liquidate their rentals in preparation for retirement. 

I am especially interested in how it would be transferrable to the businesses name to protect yourself in any sort of catastrophic event.

Diana,  In all my years as a contractor in Buffalo, I have never seen a catastrophic foundation issue as you describe pop up on 2 years.  

That provides protection against a catastrophic loss in one investment from causing financial ruin. 

One bad tenant here could be catastrophic.  

A two-unit building cannot bypass the lottery if an elderly (over 60 who has resided in the building for 10 years), disabled or catastrophically ill person was evicted from the building after November 16, 2004.

This has all the makings of a catastrophe, and people are too worried about being politically correct to demand travel limits. 

By treating the expenses of your properties as a whole you prevent cashflow catastrophes from happening.