If you plan on leaving it vacant, install a security system that will notify you if there is any movement or break ins in the house.

could be a couple of things, steel will expand and contract, if there are no cracks in the foundation it could be that the concrete was put in too tight to the steel. any movement in the steel will break the concrete if packed too tight. could be do to a bad patch in the concrete after the steel was put in and over the years it may have cracked and finally given way as Account Closed had mentioned with the freeze/ thaw. i don't think the house is going anywhere and sounds like a cosmetic fix with some mortar.

Try Movement Mortgage, which seems very investor-friendly. 

The theory is an old wives tale perpetuated by mom and pop hobby landlords.

I had a structural engineer come in who said that will hold it from future movement.

Additionally the landlord needs to make sure that leasing commissions ONLY go through primary term and not perpetuity ( forever ).  

UPDATE...OK, 30 days later and no movement by previous owner to move stuff out.

Thank you Maggie for your information.I will keep it in mind.Banning has little growth potential not much movement base on my research.

I have one in mill hill one on the west end by Stuyvesant very bad area and one on the north end not to bad of an area but still not seeing any upwards movement

Most of the San Francisco "real wealth" investors believe in the "perpetual appreciation theory" so they say it's always a good time to buy, even with negative cash flow because it will always go up.