Leasing space for your business isn't free, creating a corporation isn't free, marketing isn't free, in most cases someone has to be a licensed agent (which isn't free), and it doesn't sound like you'd have much a float for the business for whatever incidentals come up while you're building your client base.

- I would prefer to purchase personally but is there any benefit to owning under a company banner?

It's often called a floating vanity, and you can hack up a really small one.

This is because of all the tech money floating around, not everyone want to live in the burbs and will go into the city. 

I found it to be too much risk for the investor, given the low cap rate environment that we're in (given that if cap rates float up, the asset values will obviously drop). 

Also as you add property you will also need to show more reserve funds to float cost or vacancy.There are portfolio lenders that will base the loan on rental income without out taxes which could be useful depending on how your taxes look. 

I figured $600/mo net of cash flow can float quite a bit of repairs and maintenance, etc... while the tenant is paying down about $500/mo of principal. 

I have some floating in stocks but not all.

There is also another side to the coin, you could see this in the housing collapse, once the market flushed out the owner who could not float a property in bad times, you seen the market hit a bottom as people just refused to sell or rent it for anything less, they would close the door and just keep it empty vs taking less.

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