Also, I am concerned (perhaps mistakenly) that the rough grout lines and "unstruck" brick are going to be more susceptible to holding water and cracking from freeze/thaw cycles.I want to cover or repair this brick.

Right now the air temperature is sitting at a balmy 6 celsius, however in the basement it would be freezing without heat, not a place for wet concrete to cure properly.The heater was a timely installation because we had concrete and a placing crew arrive at 8 am to pour the slabs.

With a heater rigged up they are hanging drywall in t shirts upstairs while the lower levels are freezing.

The only thing that saved the place from freezing was he used the electric stove to heat the place.

But on BP, there were topics back 9 or so years ago about LOC and HELOC freezes and, in general, the collapse of access to capital.

Then its Brrrr like in Brrrrroke or Brrr like its freezing out here. 

The biggest issues related to fridges are that the ice maker dies for whatever reason or the tenant leaves the refrigerator door open too long which results in the freezer over freezing and no cold air getting the the fridge as a result of build up in the freezer preventing proper air flow.

Your worst-case scenario, assuming all the systems in the house are good and/or repaired, if the house stays vacant for a year, looks something like this: you have to come up with $600 every month to keep the property and some basic utilities to keep the pipes from freezing and the house from getting moldy.

Exterior faucets - in areas where the temperature gets below freezing, look for frost free faucets.

Used to be anyway, the bank can freeze or call due your credit line at about any time for about any reason.