If title evidence or survey reveal any defects which render the title unmarketable, Buyer will have 7 days from receipt of title commitment and surveyto notify Seller of such title defects and Seller agrees to use reasonable diligence to cure such defects at Seller's expense and will have 30 days to do so,in which event this transaction will be closed within 10 days after delivery to Buyer of evidence that such defects have been cured.

What I tried at first I was contacting a listing agent and saying I would offer x amount subject to them taking pictures of a property to confirm current state, any mechanicals such as HVAC must be included and any defects such as broken items and things that need to be repaired or replaced must be in those pictures.

Could be caused by cold weather, or the lock was defective to begin with?

Hopefully your homeowner's insurance will cover the majority of the losses, and the good news is that nobody was injured.I don't know about NJ, but I can tell you that here in MA, "buyer beware" is not a defense to failure to disclose latent defects.  

The precise language regarding exclusions for matters such as this is:...Defects, liens, encumbrances, adverse claims, or other matters(a) created, suffered, assumed, or agreed to by the Insured Claimant;(b) not Known to the Company, not recorded in the Public Records at Date of Policy, but Known to the Insured Claimant and not disclosed in writing to the Company by the Insured Claimant prior to the date the Insured Claimant became an Insured under this policy;So essentially, if you caused the title issue or knew about it and didn't disclose it before closing... you're outIf spouse or ex-spouse has a claim it could be civil separate and apart from title-related.

Repair of any damages or defects to the Rental Unit caused by you, occupants, animals or otherwise (estimates of which are outlined in the Repair & Service Charge Sheet), unless included on the written Move-In Inspection Report.C.

The exception to this is finding properties where the defects are scary to retail buyers and therefore heavily discounted (sewers, termites, mold, foundations, etc).  

If there are no other liens, defects or mortgages, and the deed is otherwise clean then you can get a QCD from the previous owners to remove the cloud and then you can get title insurance and sell with a general warranty deed.

If you end up stuck with defective title on an unbuildable lot, then you'll know what the value of your education is worth.

If you want a home with zero defects trying buying new.