sounds like your pretty green... based on your question and expectations.I have owned multiple brokerges and brokers/agents are all humans.. they all have strengths and weakness.Or your perceptions of those.. 

But it is more perception than not.

You don't just have to rehab real estate, you have to change perceptions of an area, and not just socio-economic perceptions, but the racial ones too, because, sad and as unfortunate as it may be, in Milwaukee race is identified with crime and 'sketchiness,' and property values reflect this in a very strong way.I was also just reading a real estate book by Brian Murray (he was on two of the podcasts, don't remember which), where he talks about 'buying on the line.'

 (2) for East Chicago, I see the drawback as being perception of area for financing.  

Subsequently I have seen how perception influences how people treat you.

We have a society afraid of being sued.

They think that WE don't know THEIR perceptions of how things should be and therefore if we only knew we would become one of them.

My issue is that exaggerating the perception of difficulty with certain aspects is not necessary.

And then they may see that they must support the mainstay of the capitalistic society by removing those policies that drove most of them out of the market.

I would not touch that since as soon as they see you sold it for a profit (I am assuming a wholesale business in this not a buy and hold where the "profit" is less in your face) I'd expect to get sued (if there is a legit basis or not).I have heard of the if we don't sell your house by x days we'll buy it stuff.I have also talked to many brokers that all say they would drop any of their agents in a minute if they were using that strategy.My concern is for perception much more than the reality of there being something wrong with it.Also I am an agent but hate dealing with the BS involved with listing a place so I'd just rather get a referral fee anyway.