I'd echo @Mason Bear's point to come and put your physical eyes on the property during the day and evening to see what you are getting into. 

With no bearing on local laws it's a little hard to advise in this scenario but someone local should have an answer or workaround for you!

With the whole rent-control thing: I wonder if Newsom sold his fancy home in Northern CA would he charge as much as the market would bear, or would he give a substantial break to the next buyer?

@Francisca MacMy question to you would be “are you sure you want to do that?”  

Same goes for number of LLCs and what to fund them with, since bear in mind that CA tends to be more cumbersome and expensive to have LLCs than other states.California is generally more cumbersome than other states when it comes to taxes and filings.

Also, please bear in mind costs; some states could have annual fees for an LLC in the hundreds of dollars (e.g., California),  whilst other states have no such fees (Texas).

(A) Any security deposit in excess of fifty dollars or one month's periodic rent, whichever is greater, shall bear interest on the excess at the rate of five per cent per annum if the tenant remains in possession of the premises for six months or more, and shall be computed and paid annually by the landlord to the tenant."

HMM never heard of that regarding criminals  https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/20...Using CA as an example:- not allowed to place a blanket ban based on criminal record- are not allowed to access certain forms of criminal records (arrests, post-trial diversions, sealed expunged records)- you are technically allowed to access conviction data and use it, but your interpretation of that data must comport perfectly with how CA wants you to interpret it (must have direct bearing, must have been recent enough etc)- even if you follow all of this perfectly, accessing the criminal records must not "have a discriminatory effect" so if certain special people are impacted you are still looking at liability.As a result of this legal minefield many just decide to forget looking at criminal or to find some other criteria.

But, with signfiicant inflation and ppl struggling the landlords will bear the brunt of it in NYS.

Bear with me with the odd number.