They also leave a communal bottle of hand soap. 

For me personally, I would leave it a loft so the renter could have a playroom for kids, office space, family room, etc.

Unsure if this allows us to leave mid-year.

Among many other reasons, I can think of at least three times someone tried to fight me, leaving a gas station or a restaurant there.

I am a big advocate of home ownership, but in the situation you are describing (not knowing how soon you would leave), it might not make the most sense to buy a condo with restrictions or potential assessments in the future.

Brought it up right at the closing and he claimed they were dead and he thought he was doing us a favor by getting rid of them (but simultaneously leaving us a house full of old garbage).

. $5,000 on the high end, less PITI, less repairs and vacancy doesn’t leave you with much.

The property owner always loses while the arbiter has no skin in the game at all, just skimming profits off of the owner and can walk away any time they want without reprocussions. 

They will help you ensure you don’t accidentally leave money on the table by helping you study your competition and by raising or lowering your rates so you can compete better.

The partial claims are always way more than people expect and usually leave them upside down.