Doing this creates additional problems and gives what already seems like someone with nothing to lose incentive to destroy your unit.

We also have parents as co-signers, and that helps preclude neglect when the parents know they're also on the hook if little Junior destroys the place. 

However, after discussing more with the realtor it was disclosed that the landlord was responsible for water and gas, which very much destroyed the cash flow I thought I had.

And yes like cats they will destroy the property.

If they were damaged this time they may be destroyed next time.For those interested in long term investments southern and coastal areas should be avoided if for no other reason than insurance costs.

With houses, there are so many ways things can absolutely get destroyed by rain/mold/rot/etc, whereas I feel like a well run condo association takes care of the outside better.

Their home (owned or rented) had to have been destroyed or severely damaged. 

To put it simply, and without sharing too many family details, I am helping my aunt, who is a victim of senior abuse by her kids, fix and flip her home after it was cosmetically destroyed and left vacant for many months.

And they have to trust the investor to make their mortgage payment, and trust the tenant buyer not to destroy their home.

Hire a public insurance adjuster to negotiate your claim with the insurance company, they will probably be able to get you more than you can personally get from the insurance co. i have not gone through this but this is something that i have read about. you are also better off with replacement cost in your policy, this is equal to what it would cost to fix it vs actual cost, which takes into the account the depreciated value of what was destroyed.