Since my ultimate goal is to acquire the property it seems that buying the note & foreclosing is a sound strategy in that I would then have the leverage to effectively lock other potential bidders out since no one in their right mind would bid up to the value of the note, which is more than twice what the property is currently worth.I like the idea of quietly taking possession of the property via a deed-in-lieu but that would likely be difficult as the original owner is purposefully in absentia.

Highly unlikely that any of the tenants have their own attorneys, and they're not going to like getting judgments against them in absentia, so that alone would probably have the effect you're looking for.

Is land typically flipped in absentia completely?

All obviously went unanswered and I was eventually convicted in absentia.  

Not familiar with your neck of the woods but I can tell you from experience that being an owner in absentia can be a challenge unless you have some form of local managements or at least maintenance. 20 spaces is indeed too small for an on site manager, however.