Long story shorter; she signed a will leaving me all her possessions; paid the mortgage with check from the flood insurance before dying.

Here is an answer to a post I recently wrote - maybe some of these points will help you - You might want to talk to the PR before the auction to see if they would accept X -$.If you are the high bidder - see if you can get immediate possession of the property - tell the estate you want to clean it up so that you will be able to get a good appraisal. 

I will add that for future reference, once a tenant defaults on the lease, you can still get possession even if they have the money.

You can't declare bankruptcy from fraud and none of their personal possessions are off limits.

In New York City, 30 days’ notice is required, rather than one month.The termination notice need not specify why the landlord seeks possession of the apartment, only that the landlord elects to terminate the tenancy and that refusal to vacate will lead to eviction proceedings.

There is no rent control in the town and I am going to presenting her with a Notice to Quit for possession or rent increase of 375.

The locks and door jambs on these properties appear damaged and/or broken, and the padlock is probably in place to keep out the homeless or thieves.So my question is this, if a tax DEED property has obviously been abandoned, but is secured, can you take immediate possession of said property by removing the lock, taking plywood of the windows, etc, without an ejectment action?

They turn on factual issues regarding whether the investor took LAWFUL possession and whether it was in exclusive and continuous possession of the property.

If you are not familiar with local laws or how courts are ruling for evictions for money VS possession, term vs month to month in the jurisdiction where this home is you really should do so before signing a 2 year lease.  

We had all three renters arrested for felony possession with intent to distribute (aka drug dealers) in one of our LTRs and we never even knew about it till over a year after they left.