My 2 co-owners couldn't come up with more downpayment so we couldn't get fractional loans which would have made the entire refi much easier.Also, first time you refi as condos, get ready for some serious brain farts from the bank.

Also you might want to consider partnering with an experienced house flipper you trust and fractionally invest in one of their projects to grow you nest egg.Example:Flipper buys property in Pleasant Hill, CA for $500,000 with a 30% down hard money loan.

I can't own a home for a fraction of the time.

Renting allows you to live where you want for a fraction of the cost of ownership.

Could you put a fraction of that $100k into the property, keep it LTR, and increase rent to achieve better or similar returns than STR? 

That is not the case now.Bankers employ something called "fractional reserve policy".

Just because it used to, doesn't necessarily mean it was (or is) legal.It's probably best to check zoning to see if it's allowed, and New Jersey has a lot of rental regulation that varies from one small area to another, so check with your county, city, town, township, neighborhood, whatever fractional division you may live in, subdivision, sub-subdivision, etc...That way you can get an idea of rent control regulations, square foot minimums, parking requirements, utility metering requirements, etc...Good Luck!

Once upon a time you could maybe buy a book to give you the same generic overview for a fraction of the price of a course. 

In my experience, buying properties in NZ for 'pennies in the dollar' (ie. under 60% of arv) just isn't really an option, although I know of some Auckland apartments which have sold over the last couple of years at a fraction of what they sold for new prior to the global financial meltdown.

This sounds like a good fractional interest transaction.