(The rate hike is temporary and is set to expire at the end of 2016.)

@David DeyI came to this late :(Understanding junior liens and partnering with sellers are super good ideas.Everyone tries to protect their positions in debt instruments.Once the junior lien is taken care of, Creative transactions can be createdI like looking for expired listings and finding dated older houses, let's say 200,000 ARV,  needs 20,000 in workWholesaling offer is not great for this deal, after the Wholesaling fee it's about 115,000 net to the sellerWhat else can be done? 

I found in each case, care for things like roof, soffets, exterior decking, interior closet doors, walls, AC units, window rot, long expired heating units, etc, were in generally beat up and run down condition.  

About a week before the contract was to expire I tried to reach her to set a closing date.

As far as the leases, assuming the leases are still valid (not expired) you should be able to just simply take over the current lease.  

So the best thing you can do is to try to get the replacement property identified and under contract if possible before the 45 day period expires.  

I have an inherited tenant whose lease expired 2 weeks before I closed on property.

I'm a RE Broker, but don't know if this makes any difference in this case.Also, my license will be expiring in several months. 

Statues have probably long since expired to make claim on the surveyor's errors and omissions insurance, but worth looking into.  

or can i give a notice to end the lease/rental agreement so it is effective on 2/28/16 when the actual lease expires?