If there is a strong short sale offer in play or in escrow, then you have a good chance of delaying the sale.

It seems that they are fed up with the reckless spending and massive deficits and they are going to play hardball.

How would this play out and how can i minimize risk to myself and the seller?

You do need to know that you will have to overcome it at some point and grow because networking plays a huge part in success but I think its all part of the process of growing as a person.

Will,I am seeing lots of games being played by the agents that "represent" the banksI am looking foreward to seeing them on the other side of the cycle.

Let us know the results of your LOI offer and if the seller counters or not.NEVER let the seller simply state to you, "make a new offer/LOI and resubmit" Tell them, "please send me a written counter offer"Sellers telling you to resubmit a btter offer are playing the game with you, turn it around and don't them them win that game.

One thing they did was fake occupancy by having radios playing in vacant units! 

I would build in a buffer for taxes to play it safe.

It was a hard decision trying to decide which way to take this deal and ultimately decided to make a long-term play on it and keep it, I think I will thank myself for it in the future. 

I have been playing with the idea of A cashout refinance ( to make them commercial), but I am also weighing the option of buying using a commercial mortgage now and doing a sale to access equity later.