I own several apt and i bought them as an investment. Don't give MA Ideas.
In the bigger picture, when you bought the apartments to keep as investment, you also prevented someone who actually was going to use the apartment to get it. It means that crafters have an apartment left to furnish, hunters/miners have no longer an option to get a secondary storage.
As they weren't sold for 250 ped, it was obvious that market value was not *above* 250 ped. By removing them all from market and then selling them one by one, you (the resellers) remove the option from the buyers to chose if they want an apartment hight up, or near bottom.
The reselling of apartments isn't so bad for old players, who got the option to get an apartment, as it is to new players, who didn't get the chance; and who also have problem getting some other equipment we older players took for granted (EP-40 for tt+25, marber bravo for tt+30, a101 for tt+nothing, a102/a103 dropping about once every 20 ped hunt). And as for (L) items, if ther ever is an animal brush sold at a price close to TT, it's snatched up by a reseller who repost it.
In real life, investors is a good thing. They provide cash into some area, and expect to get something back - but resellers don't add value. I don't think MA really did get much cash from the sold apartments (as compared to let's say a land area), but as seen from players who do *spend* money in the game, it's not a matter of investors - it's a matter of leeches.
What can MA do?
They could construct a new apartment complex, and to get an apartment there you need a "coupon" which you get for free when you have reached a certain skill level (let's say graduation level, ie 1900 rifle/600 mining). This way avatars will have a fair chance.
(Sure, the "coupons" can be traded - but if you do trade it you know that you have forfeited the chance of getting an apartment at "construction cost").
A technicak solution: They can provide a house where several apartments, physically, can be in the same place. Kind of like a hotel corridor. You got the option to select a floor, but on each floor there are 999 apartments, and when you stand in the televator you enter the apartment nubmer (x-yyy) and get directly into it.
Another approach is to have rental apartments, for say 15 ped/month, and when you get it you ahve to pay 2 months in advance. When there is one month less, the apartmet gets locked (until you pay), and if you don't pay at all, all items in apartment gets placed in a special "eviction box" which can handle an unlimited amount of items but items can only be removed from it, not manually added into it and the eviction box gets placed in your storage, and the apartment is cleaned up for whoever wants it next.
Another thing that could be done, is that to sell an apartment in a public way (auction, shop or shopkeeper), it has to be accessible (for inspection). It means, that it must be claimed by seller, it must have public access, and the rent must have been paid. This is pretty natural, who in real life would buy an apartment they haven't been able to see. (How big is it? Is there anyting sold with it such as furniture? Is there a balcony?). There is a possible exception for special cases like CND and the malls where apartments were part of a bigger deal.
