Getting a co-signer would be difficult for me, personally, because none of my family members think REI is a good idea (who has family members, who aren‘t also Investors, that do?)

All they care about is who's the trustee and do they have authority to sell the property. 

I don't know the details on this yet, but suffice it to say the tenants of this property aren't going to make any part of this process easy for anyone.

And you can always require your renters to carry renters insurance.2- Landlord tenant law is state-specific, so you would need to research codes or reach out to the state real estate authority or your local metropolitan housing authority (MHA)....they are usually a good resource.You would need to check with your county auditor to see if there is a requirement for a "rental registry"...this is county specific...or could be related to city ordinance as well.

So I called the attorney who has the files to see if he has been given executor status and was told:1. it's an old case2. he does not have the authority to sell the propertyThen I called the courthouse to see who is the administrator over the estate, and was told that they have no record of the mother's death! 

For me, those questions aren't the things I'm going to be looking at.  

They aren't big places and don't have extra space so my options are a tank heater outside in a shed or a tankless.   

If you aren't married it's 250k.Look up section IRS section 121.This better and easier than a 1031, however 1031 is for a investment property (that you don't live in as primary residence) because section 121 doesn't apply there.

If they have an issue with providing it they you have to ask yourself, "why aren't they providing it?"

We don't have any housing authorities with moratoriums.