They had already tried many alternatives.

@Andrew DeWeerd you should connect with @Brandon Abbott he knows the non bank lending space well if you need alternative financing 

Looked for their alternate addresses/family members and All over white pages and people finders and still cannot get into contact with the owner.

I am looking at this as an alternative to save up, purchase a home all cash, put owner financing on it. 

Some entire life insurance policies have actually an included feature that you can withdraw a money value of the policy after a particular quantity of time.Universal Life InsuranceThis kind of life insurance gives you more alternatives than entire life.

Without a doubt, the most effective method to acquire life insurance is through a term life insurance policy. term life insurance policy Some monetary advisors insist that their customers utilize entire life insurance...

The alternative is to not force yourself into househacking and just buy straight investment properties. 

Are there any other alternatives?

Unfortunately I own the house already so what is my alternative or a plan of action that would minimize risk of either prolonged vacancy or renting it out to a person just  for them to default shortly after and not being able to evict especially during a pandemic in a tenant friendly city.

The house is brick and stucco and lead is only on wooden trims- porch column, patio roof siding, soffits, and fascias.Is there an alternative strategy to give this home a face-lift without spending tremendous amount of money on the exterior?