@Jackie F.,
That's EXACTLY how the law is written. Remember: these laws were written by rich people for their own interests.
When I renew my LLC registration every year, the on-line form allows for entities which are NOT owned by human persons.
Here's the thumb-nail sketch ("sketchy" - get it?) ...
You establish a revocable trust with your lawyer (for example) as the trustee and you as the beneficiary. You do not OWN it. Trusts aren't owned in the traditional sense. The trustee's identity is public knowledge. The identity of the beneficiary is protected. This is your first layer of asset protection.
You establish an S-Corp (or an LLC with the "S"-election). This will be the "operating" company through which the money flows. It is owned by the trust.
You establish an LLC as your first "holding" company. It is owned by the S-Corp and the trust (multi-member - better protection). Rentals are owned by LLCs. Money flows through to the S-Corp.
This is the basis of your business entity structure. You build from here.
Along with the insurance on each entity, this provides a high degree of asset protection. Your personal estate is well isolated from the entities.
Again, this is how rich legislators wrote the law - to protect themselves and their personal possessions / estate from the risks and liabilities incurred by the business entities.
A side benefit is that you are -NOT- self-employed! You make yourself an employee of the S-Corp (Pres / CEO or Manager, for example) and pay yourself using the salary / dividend split to limit your employment taxes (SUTA, FUTA, FICA, worker's comp.).
Nothing "sketchy" about it. It's how the law is INTENDED to be used.
There are other benefits, but #1: I'm not a financial or legal professional and #2: There's a whole 16 hour, 2-day class to explain the rest that I could hook you up with rather than try to put it all in one forum post.
