Also a few vintage Japanese tea cups thrown in an attic.Some clown left their crack pipe in an outdoor electrical box once.Just found about 20 rakes, shovels, and assorted yard tools in the crawl space of the house I'm rehabbing now.

I have a similar problem but it is in my crawl space rather than a basement.

My wife works near that area and it is a fantastic spot to live in IMO.

Also I have come to hate plumbing in my old age and I'd rather call the plumber to deal with a leak rather than to have to crawl under another house one more time.  

The foundation is solid but only goes 24" below grade and therefore would no longer be permitted so I made the call to go with a brand new foundation over crawl.

Spot texturing or trying to match is difficult to do. 

We have a 2 flat with a crawl space and when I sent our plumber down there to repair a sewer issue he sent me pictures of 15-25 rat burrows under this building and he saw them all retreat into the burrows when they shined light on it. 

In your experience, is Indianapolis a good spot to start or are there other markets that are better suited for finding income properties?

Braeside is a good spot.

Aside from this one spot the basement has a french drain system that catches the water before it rises through the floor and directs it to the sump pit.