@Emilie Pa Consult a real estate attorney to ensure the property transfer from your Canadian company to yourself is legally sound and compliant with California laws.

Additionally, if cooperation is required by law in the state, the agent may additionally be violating state law.

Make it a standard practice to show all of your tenants where the main water shutoff valve is and label it clearly so they know how to shut the water off right away if something like this happens.

.: Quote from @Marcus Auerbach: My point was: the law was intended to prevent this practice.

One theory is that the investors see population increasing in these areas and are willing to deal with the ridiculous local laws

I don't know how IL laws are but I think in most places a local municipality can only charge a fee to provide a service and the cost of the fee must roughly correspond to the work involved in providing the service.

There are items required by law and in general those are related to the safety and basic comfort of living. 

Owner-occupied transactions are mostly emotional decision based.Investors should check emotions at the door and only make business based decisions.What does that mean in practice?

I understand your point but but strong language like that, combined with the overexaggerate of the news and their storms of the century that actually never happened put out a little bit of a unnecessary fear out there , I get it tho , there’s some truth and practicality to it , I must admit the high insurance costs and hurricanes have caused me to rethink the investment location, but I’m not gonna tuck tail and run in fear quite yet because who really knows if this is the new normal, and even if it is people live and invest in Florida coasts  because it’s Paradise for most of the year and they love it and accept the risk . 

As ravens fly across the sky,I pass agreements swiftly by.No need to claim the haunted land,Just find another eager hand.A trader's art without a trace,What practice runs this spectral race?"