I understand that refi is part of the process, but this seems to force a refi that could conceivable come during downturn and ruin a strategy.What am I missing here?

I think this depends on the municipality. while I've never dealt with the issue, I have heard stories of other being forced to fix by the city they live in. you want to do a little digging locally.

Or are you trying to purchase distressed and add value (repairs/rental income) to force appreciate?

Buy distressed properties with cash or HML/PML, at much more than 10% discount, Rehab them to force appreciation, increase the rent, then refinance (70% LTV/15 Year’s) to get all or most of your cash back.  

I think their offerings still deserve usual scrutiny, but at this point in particular I'm personally gravitating more towards one.

This will force us to use some of the $10k towards mortgage as the rental income would likely no longer cover debt services. *** if we loose the majority of the tenants, it may be a blessing in disguise as we can renovate multiple units at once bettering our economy of motion (saving time and money with repairs) and quickly change the tenant class (it is hard to convince one working class tenant to live amongst majority low class tenants).2.)

I’m a bit nervous to begin with but I’ve forced myself through seriously tough situations before and come out ahead.

If you could get an additional $25 per month for 8 storage units not only will you add $2,400 per year in cash flow but at a 10 cap you force appreciation of an additional $24,000 immediately.  

I can't afford the monthly payments, so I'm forced to defer payments again, causing this cancer to grow.

Studying for my Texas license test and I am kind of shocked to see the landlord is forced to pay for modifications to the rental to make the place safe and comfortable to live in at his own expense for a disabled person.