Anyway I can't meet with him physically.

Where you physically located? 

If you have two-three physical pieces of real estate there is a lot more at risk, lot more of time, and are 100% depending on those two houses.

I think what he is trying to do is accrue his interest.. so he does not have to pay tax on it if you accrue it I believe you only pay tax when you physically receive it.

If you don't have the tolerance to weather a long(er) downturn, a vacant house for an extended period, or anything that is associated with managing a physical asset than you definitely do not want to step in now.

The physical amount of damage, and sheer cost to repair, caused from low volume, long term leaks is far too high to turn a blind eye to.

My plan would be to keep marketing your property on Facebook, Zillow, and Craigslist until you can get someone to physically look at your property with less concerning factors.  

In my experience, some investors tend to hunt down properties with obvious physical problem, i.e. tarps on roofs, overgrown lawns, broken windows etc. 

Additionally, the lender was a small lender who represented that this was a cut-and-dry foreclosure, and if my understanding is correct, the lender's attorney remembered physically seeing the client signing the loan documents.

Pilots are trained, tested, have to have a certain number of hours per type of plane to be certified, have their vision tested, have to have the tower's permision to take off or land, can lose their license if they fly drunk or don't pass a physical and so on.