Is there a way to make this deal work?

[Alex Price]

Looking to see if there are any creative ideas to make this work... 

Currently looking for a primary residence in SoCal.  Found a house in a good area of Orange County listed for $675k.  However, the owner current has a tenant in the house with 1.5 years left on the lease (and apparently doesn’t want to leave). The owner inherited the house, and for the sake of not wanted to pay taxes on the income from the home he’d like to sell the house ASAP (not sure if he had a note on the house but I’d assume it’s owned free in clear)  

Current rent being paid is $2,975 and the house is listed for $675k.  Like every other house in SoCal, it doesn’t cash flow (assuming a conventional loan is on the property).  So I can’t just buy it and be landlord for a year in a half without coming out of pocket. 

I don’t need a house right away so I can wait a year and half till their lease is up and move in.

Does anyone have any creative ideas to get a deal done?