Not to mention all the other problems (frozen pipes, vandalism, squaters, etc.)One good way to measure vacancy rates is to watch when another For Rent sign goes and up in your farm area and count how many days it stays vacant.

I've seen a house in the winter where the water pipe had burst, vacant house, and  a frozen water ice fall was coming out of building all the way down the side of the house.. 

Cons: many Helocs were arbitrarily frozen during the previous real estate crisis when people needed them the most.

So apparently the water meter in a property I purchased was frozen and wasn't measuring usage.

It's in good shape structurally except for frozen pipes, which is a pretty big deal.

Personally, I don't want tenants that don't keep the utilities on (cleanliness, frozen pipes, excessive humidity, etc.), so I don't mind wrapping these costs into the payment...

Pex won't burst if frozen??

so a 5ft by 8 ft 10 ft deep is a little much for me through frozen clay.  

just read the fine print on HELOC"s  they can get called and or frozen.. not that it would happen but it could happen if markets got tight.. millions of them were called from 08 to 2010... most folks posting now were not doing business.So when you get the loan docs read them carefully I will 99% say there is a clause that the bank can unilaterly freeze or call these due with no notice  I bailed out a lot of flippers in those years who were in the middle of big rehabs and their helocs got frozen and they did not have the money to finish.not being negative just giving you a heads up since you said your very conservative.

Once you terminate employment, you can leave the 401k there but it becomes essentially frozen and just an investment vehicle for the funds in place.