Their default answer was that any remaining funds would be deducted from the principal upon completion.

This is due to non-cash deduction (i.e. depreciation).

After you deduct insurance your cash on cash might be single digits.

You generally cannot convert personal, non-deductible expenses into deductible expenses by renting your personal residence to yourself... 

Also heloc interest is no longer deductible.  

@Fred CannonIf you self-manage your own properties, you likely do things and pay for things that people who outsource the management don't do.These items are possibly traveling to your investment property to make repairs, collect rent, etc.You may also pay for tools to fix up small items.There may also be property management software that you may choose to have if you don't use a property management company.These are a list of expenses you may be able to deduct if you decide to self-manage.

This is on a 7% commission, most agents could work for 6% but a 1% deduction can be significant to an agent.

Deductible: This is not a coverage but rather your portion of a claim.

However, you get to deduct any taxes that you paid to the foreign country and of course, real estate losses...

Would the tax deduction for performing the repair be worthwhile?