.; does the garage share a wet wall with the house?

Maybe the water is getting in from behind the front bricks and in front of the inside bricks.If the walls are a sideways brick thick, they may be a double brick wall back to back with tie bricks holding them together (old fashioned way of building) vs modern veneer.Sometimes during construction the first floor is made with even wider walls to accommodate future upper stories.The layers of bricks will not have mortar between them (most likely, but who knows).So if you have water intrusion up higher, it may come down there and leak out behind the stucco and when it freezes bingo stucco pops off.The intrusion could follow an old window casing down and leak in a hidden spot under the sill and flow down, or on an angle.If you are using a good stucco contractor and he is baffled, this might be it....or it might not be it....Maybe affixing metal lath to the area might help--but if it is a water issue,,,that water will have to go somewhere, and if its bundled between the bricks when it freezes...the bricks might pop.Maybe shield the areas really well with plastic duck taped up there, and if the brick is wet or the taped cover holds water when you open it after a storm...you may have figured it out.

My advice here, is not to be too picky so you can get your feet wet.

The property abuts a stream and its very wet, so I doubt it has to go very deep.

Pay it off faster, get feet wet, see how this business works. 

And in many instances you have much more credibility that some wholesaler who is so wet behind the ears they have no clue as to contracts for what they are doing..

We have seen the floating floors get wet at subfloor, and end up moldy/soft.   

They do find deals here and there but most of them have not been in the industry long enough to really get their feet wet, usually lots of turnover so just be careful as you should with any wholesaler.

I am not greedy just looking to get my feet wet

even when I'm standing there with a wet paint roller in my hand.