Tenants do not like moving in winter so this is a rare situation and not something that should prevent using M2M.

Yeah, what Jody said.As for future prevention, look outside to see if you can tell why the water's getting inside.Make sure your gutters & downspouts are all doing their job. 

I often break it down into the "five pillars" of protecting your assets.1st pillar is avoiding unnecessary and risky activities (don't drink and drive, insurance generally won’t cover your poor decisions) and take good care of your investments - these simple steps will help you prevent lawsuits before they even occur.2nd pillar is a good insurance policy as that cover the majority of your exposure.

The best way is to form a relationship with them, which is one of the ways that sponsors demonstrate that investors weren't introduced through a general solicitation.Aside from investing in syndications, if your goal is to own real estate directly, and you want to move up to larger properties, there is no "rule" to prevent you from doing so. 

Most major cities have strict zoning laws to prevent this from happening. 

Additionally, it would tie up my investment capital for 10-12 years as I pay down the HELOC and prevent me from further investment.

As I mentioned before, the bank has redundant language in their boiler plate that prevent buyers from doing this.   

You might need a good inspector to give you report about all the house issues . also a contractor to give you estimation of how much money and work needed to make it rent-able, remember if you want a good family to rent your home , you need to have a neat kitchen and rooms. old houses can have higher bills, leaks under ground , tree roots pushing the structure of the house from underground , beside like you said , out of date building codes that any simple fix might require re working all the house. 

For beginning investors looking into asset protection I often break it down into the 5 pillars of asset protection (but there are many more.)1st pillar is avoiding unnecessary and risky activities (don't drink and drive, insurance generally won’t cover your poor decisions) and take good care of your investments - these simple steps will help you prevent lawsuits before they even occur.2nd pillar is a good insurance policy as that cover the majority of your exposure.

I have to go there and stay up all night like a security guard to prevent these scary gathering and it's taking toll.