Complex sentence: Residential real estate in this downtown area became harder to sell, and fewer homes were owner-occupied as investors scooped them up at bargain prices and fixed them up as rentals, many under the federal government's "Section 8" low-income rental program.
Split into simpler sentences: Residential real estate in this downtown area became harder to sell, and fewer homes were owner-occupied. Instead, investors scooped them up at bargain prices and fixed them up as rentals, many under the federal government's "Section 8" low-income rental program.