the "frankenstein" approach to having the loan in your personal name to me is "bad." 

How should I approach this matter?

There are tons of resources and different approaches here.

If I followed the pathway  you’re suggesting (basically if I wouldn’t start anything because I had a fear of failure) I wouldn’t have my paid off properties and I would not have a portfolio of rentals...Gotcha.I'm a little different in my approach. 

It sounds like the easiest approach is to just pay down a credit card a little bit to push it up a point.Best of luck!

Almost all of our out of state clients take this approach.

I Said all that to say how do I approach my  lenders/banks to possibly combine the two properties into one loan?  

Very stressful because the auditor approaches like an enemy.

I’m trying to take the private and hard money approach to real estate, as the idea of being able to leverage and build a network around you of like minded investors peaks my interest the most.

I did no billboards or advertising, but when you have a presence, people know you and approach you about buying their property;  and I sent multiple letter to the specific owners listed above, as the primary source.