To me, it's all about generating additional streams of income.

I want to start renting it out to create some more income, and am currently looking for an additional home in the area to do the same thing.

Since you will be on both the buy/sell side - you would then be paying 100% of the transfer tax.I suppose you would have to weight the cost of creating the LLC(which includes the additional cost to transfer it to an LLC) to the cost of the umbrella package and weighting the pros/cons of how each strategy will protect you.

Additionally, I have started to identify vacant properties in our area and started calculating practice deals so I can learn what metrics are important. 

Not to say that they will.As far as taxes and insurance, the one thing to make sure of is the mortgagee is the primary insured, and you as the additional insured, if that's what you want to do is to get your own policy.

Additionally, I used pastel envelope (now a standard) and kept my veribage short and sweet. 

I'm in Syracuse too and I own a few singles in addition to managing a few more.

if I understand your question, paying back taxes doesn’t give you additional interest in the  property.

I'm curious if anyone who owns a commercial office building has strategies to get additional income via building signage.  

It will be converted to a triplex the basement and fIrst floor one unit and 2 additional units above and will end up approximately 2100sf + basement.