Dead guy is still on the title. 

(leak was in a different room from the photo I saw).Regarding the remote showings, the door was left open in the dead of winter, "viewers" trashing the property...

Because this is a  short sale, if the short sale approval letter expires, you  might start a fresh to initiate the file with the short sale lender and it is not a guarantee that it might be approved or the lien holder might pull a fast one and foreclose on the property.I don't know if the subject area is in a rental control jurisdiction, even if, all it takes to get rid of the seller is minimum of 45 days with an experienced eviction attorney.However, make sure the seller has signed the grant deed while the drama is going on, otherwise, it might be a dead deal. 

For example, 51/49 was felt very common years ago as a tool to avoid "dead-lock" or "roulette". 

Grass is dead and hardly any plants in the garden beds. 

Traditional lease options are pretty much dead in Texas.

Its best to remove smokers of anything, because most smokers are dead in the head, and have no clue or care where that stench goes.If there IS a lease, perhaps you can ask them to leave without a penalty for breaking it.Nope, not anti pot.

Cable is dead. 

I think your biggest problem was probably having a property with a weird flow, though offering in the dead of winter in a cold climate and asking top market rates for a property with a weird flow probably contributed significantly.

If you are dead set on needing privacy, you can find a single family home with some form of carriage house/ mother-in-law suite you can live in and rent out the rest.Earlier this year I did 6 part webinar series on house hacking in our higher interest rate environments with case studies and interviews with industry experts.