Definitely not, these sales always come as-is, where is, with all encumbrances attached that survive the foreclosure action.   

Like @Brooks Rembert said, learning from somebody who's already gone through the process and survived a few cycles is worth the price of admission.

Insurance has said they’re not covering it because it’s a ‘domestic situation’ which is not covered on the insurance.We’re speaking with a lawyer tomorrow to determine what to do with their possessions and if there is any recourse with the surviving tenant to recover these costs, but we are doubtful he has money to pay us back. 

Small units could be hard to survive with rent control and the ever changing tenancy laws that 100% work against the property owner. 

Maybe it's the architect in me, But when I think of quality of life I think of everything I need for my survival within a reasonable proximity to where I live.

Can you survive with one vacant, or both vacant for 6 months? 

After reading his obituary he is only survived by 3 nieces and a facebook search was unsuccessful.

I had no choice but to start with seller financing & rehabbing my way to a higher appraisal & hopefully a refi.It was not unusual to have several properties maxed out as were my credit cards & I had to rent rooms in all to survive.

What strategy should RE investors like us use to survive in bad times? 

Because their lease survives the sale you will probably need to set the closing date for the sale at the end of the lease term.