@Michael Norris I called the banks, took them over a week to realize what was going on and freeze the accounts.

You also have to deal with winter weather in the northern states and possibility of pipes freezing and higher heat costs (which would be paid by the tenant once rented out).

If it turns out to be a broken pipe in a wall or ceiling (likely here where we have freezing to worry about), then a few hundred is about right for the plumbing and sheetrock.

What about the plumber that stops a flooding leak on a Sunday morning or the HVAC tech that fixes a furnace under a crawl space in the middle of a freezing night?

On REOs, HUDs, VAs and other you can get inside but most of the time the utilities are shut off, and heat has been off for a long time at least one winter, in some cases more than one winter and are possible freeze damage to water pipes, hot water heat pipes and even boilers/hotwater heaters. 

Fires in CA, freezes in OK/TX, hurricanes in FL, floods in Germany, fires in Greece etc.

Prop 13 which freezes property tax basis.

The catch is it must be vacant 90 days and winters in Vermont are expensive to heat the building so the pipes don't freeze requiring costly plumbing repairs.So this property may be eligible for up to $130k in grant money and rental income guaranteed by the state!

Is the possibility of freezing the credit line a real issue (hence I need to have another stash of cash available)?

Secure the property, transfer utilities to prevent any freeze damage and then file an FED action.