Had he informed the PM right away, I would have deployed a remediation company in the afternoon instead of finding out the damage in the evening when it was too late to set up the drying system that night, causing continued water damage. 4) I requested tenants to pay for the deductible that I pay out of pocket. 

Myself, I have almost 3 decades in the housing industry professionally, I have performed at the highest level of skill, licensure and quality in literally every single aspect of real estate from point of raw land planning and development, building design, build, renovation, remediation, inspection, investing, contracts, negotiations, deal engineering etc etc, I am ridiculously over-the-top experienced and qualified and that is why clients go with myself AND my team, it's not my beautiful Shrek like smile, it's my beautiful brain and decades of knowledge and performance because they know any issue that could come up, I have probably dealt with it 18 times before if not 180 and I can solve it.

Depending on the severity I would probably stay away from serious foundation issues unless a) the Seller is willing to remedy it themselves or b) the concession/credit they offer is significant enough to cover surprise issues that may pop up.

I'm not sure if it's a mindset matter of wanting it bad enough, or maybe there is a physical remedy like exercising more often?

Here's the text in my leases: Pest control, after the first ten (10) days of the Term of this Lease, shall be the sole responsibility of the Tenant, including, without limitation, prevention and remediation.

Start simple, cheap, where you can not only afford the acquisition but also afford the screw-ups you most certainly will be making, and the remedies for them.

From my experience in sourcing code violation cases from different areas of the country I can tell you that if the situation isn't remedied and it escalates the fines and liens will be levied against you the homeowner - not the tenant. 

You're not going to find the answer for your situation in Gates, just the overarching remedial intent of Sec 121.

Your legal remedy is to force the seller to close through specific performance, and if you had sufficient language in your liquidated damages and default language the seller may also have to pay your legal fees.

If it is impossible for you to look at the property prior to purchasing, you MUST have trusted partners that can point out repairs/concerns and estimate (in dollar terms) the remediation plan.