And we simply push back and tell the buyer dont care what your inspector said they are wrong.

The purpose for setting it up as a STR was simply to help defray the cost of owning and maintaining the property, but again we feel that the time we put into it is taking away from our quality of life with our family/kids.We're looking for advice on what to do with the property.

If I were to create a single-member llc and give my wife 100% control, that seems like I would be at risk of losing everything in case of divorce (god forbid). 

If you're using hard money simply for the purchase and plan to refinance, the hard money would actually require less than long term financing.

And 2nd, because the statistics simply show persons with __% equity have <__% likelihood of defaulting and those at __% have higher and higher likelihood of default. 

As a new real estate investor this is simply too large a project for me to try and tackle, but I know this forum is full of quality investors who care about their tenants and are always looking for a deal!

As if you purchase the property and update the kitchen from simply an out dated look that is not necessary but is recoverable.Essentially, if you get served a redemption notice you have to put together the line item costs that the redeeming party must pay to you in order for you to surrender title back.  

Their LTV/LTC will be higher and they will likely want to scale with you where the bigger banks will likely cap you off. 70% LTV is just simply too low unless.

God willing, mine will be renting.

But if they mean your LLC is simply a "certificate holder", hell no.However, you should really connect with an insurance broker to get you some quotes.