I know it may sound heartless, but say he goes into a coma, you aren't legally allowed to enter the house and rerent, without a formal eviction process.

from what i understand, purchasing a property at a judicial sale wipes liens.using imaginary numbers, here is the scenario.house purchased at judicial sale for 40,000   (property worth 150,000)tax liens 2500municipality liens 2000utility liens 2000the owner sara (name changed) is deceased and the sister Mary (name changed) of the owner (who lives next door) is the intended heir.from what we know, the title/deed was never transfered from sara  to the sister Mary.Mary is also old, and has 3 powers of attorney. 2 sons and a grand daughter. so as far as we know the house is in the name of the Estate of sara from what i understand...  

In a non-Judicial foreclosure state, will the sheriff knock on the homeowners door and escort the family out of their property?

@Semilore Lawal- thanks ...assuming you have a  decent  down payment for the  rental - I  would assume the  new property rental income  could  cover ( or  come close to covering ) the  new  property mortgage  payment ....if this is the case - your  debt/ income ratio  shouldnt  increase too much ....if the  realistic rental income is much lower than what the mtg payment will be - then this  wont  be applicable  .....get in toouch with a CN lender and get a pre approval formally  started to know for sure - good luck

The "option agreement" must be exercised, meaning a formal PA must be executed. 

Formal Meetings. 

In a judicial State the default notice only starts a lengthy process until foreclosure.

You don't think formalized regulations are a good thing for the STR market?

Point is, check with R.E. attorney, fair chance there IS rights to the fence now even though there wasn't a formal written agreement before. 

They should have actually had a formal appraisal done, as opposed to using the tax assessed value.