Old home basement aren't meant to be perfectly dry like a modern house, but you do want to keep them from being constantly "wet" as opposed to occasionally damp. 3.

I have definitely thought about investing out of state and plan to explore that option once I can get my feet wet here in Long Beach. 

My wife and I just inherited 50% of a family homestead when her father passed away here in Spokane in March.  We are new to the idea of a rental and trying to gauge our ability to execute on it.  The house is paid off...

Get your feet wet, make mistakes, and learn as you go. 

I can't know this for certain, of course.Not sure if this is worth pursuing with a lawyer or chalking this up to a lesson learned (be very careful buying properties in a wet area with finished basements, ensure it is suitably water-proofed).

But going back to the "wet patch", for a leak to actually hurt financially, you are looking at 10s of thousands of gallons.

Get your feet wet before you jump into that.

@Nicholas McDonald I would recommend starting with something smaller to get your feet wet and start learning.

I'm just starting to get my feet wet with real estate investing.

Plenty of free options out there to learn the business and get your feet wet and start taking action.