This seems common sense but it prevents bad landlords from purposefully leaving it empty for the entirety of the lease and claiming the old tenant owes the entire lease amount.

It's preventing you from buying a deal you shouldn't.You can settle for a bad deal, look in another market where houses are cheaper, or be patient.

Is there a lien I can put on the property to prevent sale until deposit is paid?

This makes it a little easier to prevent the bank from noticing thus enforcing the due on sale clause

Why people want to prevent economic progress is more than I can understand.

Or additional lattice that may block out more of the cemetery but local restrictions may prevent such things being built too high.Such an external obsolescence will affect the ARV of the property so it must be budgeted for.

Add electric baseboard heaters to each unit with thermostats in each unit that they can control.Keep the house heater set to the minimum 60 degrees to prevent frozen pipes, and lock the thermostat.

Entitys have nothing to do wtih preventing a home from going to foreclosure.

Is there any reason that would prevent me from repeating this process multiple times in the span of a few years? 

As folks who deploy or go on temporary duty, often for short periods of time, we're hit pretty hard by anything that prevents us from renting our space in the meantime.