While total number of sales are down, it appears to be an issue with supply and not demand!

On the other hand, it could increase unit supply, dropping the rents I could pull in. 

Seller's end up being responsible for your malfeasance so while it may be "off the books", the liability remains to some extent no matter how your purchase and sale agreement is structured with them.You came out guns blazing against my statement, without clarifying your position, until I poked holes in your comparison between your position and that of the OP.

I didn't want it due to structural damage.

@Nick Britton how would you structure pay?

I just got my first rental condo. The condo is currently under my spouse and my name. A few questionsHow should we put as owners of the property? Us as owners? Or create an LLC and move the property to the LLC?How sho...

In the mostly low rental areas in NYC but are easy to get to Manhattan or good areas in Brooklyn, Landlords would rather rent short term than to rent to an unqualified tenant and potentially get into a court case, this is ASIDE from making better income on the STRs.That also reduces the supply of available apts.Other issues that has not been addressed but was touched upon when over-consumption was mentioned is that in these rent regulated buildings, there is usually a high demand for services, which will add to a landlord's expense, such as older residents demanding more heating despite conforming to heating laws (BTW, this isn't every landlord...

The agent proceeded to provide only three pictures of the facility (exterior main entrance, kitchen of one unit, and the backyard) and relayed that I can only perform a walk-through upon the submission of a Letter of Intent.Is it common to supply a LOI prior to seeing the units in an MFH? 

With what you are trying to do, there may be some structures we can come up with in order to avoid the securities world, but would need to dig into detail.  

The only thing that prevents this is if supply outpaces demand.