This way you will be made completely whole in the event of a total loss. 

were I don't think you can do that in a corp.you trade the SEI tax for the event if you have a crummy year.. you can go back and get whatever tax's you paid back to offset that years loss's I know for me personally when the world came to a near end in 08 to 2010 and we had to take back loans that we lost on and sell props to pay banks at major loss's I was able for 3 years to claw back to 04 and get almost all the tax money I paid in the way of refunds and it was substantial low 6 figure refunds annually for 3 years.. helped me ride out a crappy economy.  

You'll want to keep money in reserves in the event that one of your rentals cannot wash it's own face (evictions, excessive repairs or damages, etc.)

In the event she needs to move, it will be much easier for both of you.

With regards to holding time for a rehab property, I would be conservative and expect at least 6 months of holding time in the event you run into any surprises.

If you decide not to go with a large franchise, the other alternative is find someone in your sphere or at networking events who's an independent broker.

In the event of an incident your defense and settlement costs would be covered up to the policy limit. 

I've been too numerous events that cost $500 to $1500 for 1-3 days of education.  

I think it's great that you want to invest it, but it only takes a one life event to wipe out $10K.

The details are posted on the Bigger Pockets networking events page.