About the wet basement: 

I would:

a) regularly inspect the sumps for standing ground water.

b) where standing ground water is visible in a sump, I would install a sump pump. Hypothetically lowering the ground water level would b1) not be effective in keeping trhe basement dry, and/or b2) create unacceptable electricity costs. Time would tell.  

c) my prejudice against, and failure to have gutters installed may be at fault, since rainfall from 1248 sq.ft. of roof is now pouring onto two 48 feet long strips of sand on the southern and northern sides of the house. I, of course have no objection to your complying with convention and having gutters installed. If it were my problem, I would place gutters not at the edges of the roof, but on the ground, directly beneath the eaves to deflect water away from the foundation wall.  

With respect to all the work remaining to be done on the house, the kitchen, the closets, the bulkhead, the gutters ... you have the option of trying to hire Tim LeBlanc to come back for a few days or weeks to do what needs to be done.

I hope that you are able to extract a certain amount of "vacation" from your visit.