This could have easily been replaced with code/AI.

It can happen all too easily! 

You can easily calculate the price you would pay without the exemption by looking at the gross tax bill that was just run for 2024.

Most owners who do it want to keep the option of having the building vacant when they eventually sell the place since vacant places sell much more easily then tenant-occupied ones if it's a rent controlled building.

For a 3/2/1 of 1200 sq ft, you can easily rent it for 1650 which is what I did last week for a lease break out and had a tenant move in 3 days after the vacancy.

It currently has a renewed leased tenant for a year @$1400 a month (the owner of the property rented it out to workers at an under-market rate but could easily get $1500-1700).

It’s a blessing (the reason you found real estate in the first place) and a curse (you probably get distracted easily on what asset class to focus on).

With enough knowledge you can make a educated decision on which approach you take.My experience:I personally don't sign up for any program who take you aside during events and try to sell packages that is just blatant sales strategy.Once you sign up there is every attempt to make you sign for their programs for bookkeeping, registered agent, LLC or corp setup fee which have ridiculous even with platinum membership.Basic standard structure they suggest to take advantage of multiple deductions can be easily achieved by proper education or work with a good firm like https://wcginc.com  who is local to you.A umbrella C-crop to manage all other LLC properties and take advantage of many tax deductions that are not available with a llc, its also used to take losses up to 100K as startup expenses and dissolve the entity after few years.Few LLC entities for investing in Real Estate, etc preferably in Wyoming or Nevada ( you can find many companies online who can do this for $150 compared to anderson $1500-$3000) , they will claim they have a secret Operating agreement which is bogus.They certainly try to take advantage of tax loopholes and claim to be smart people, my view they are just taking advantage of numbers as per their own statements.

Fannie Mae will allow you to transfer the deed to an LLC if you decide to try to go the conventional route, but the loan would still be in your names and you'll need to pay a title company a second time post-closing to do this  for you. 3) I can't speak for the area so no comment there4) If you're self managing, make sure you find vendors you can trust in the area since you won't be able to easily verify if an HVAC guy, plumber, etc. is trying to rip you off and tell you to buy something you don't actually need. 5) Make sure you have clear alignment of goals and a clear operating agreement that spells out what to do if those goals start to not align in the future since you'll be jointly obligated to these properties. 

Who cares about lifetime interest costs, except to the extent you can easily lower them (refinance to a lower interest rate) to increase your cashflow.