Frankly I was afraid to try and take it off because of the potential of the plaster being no good underneath.

Just to go the extra mile, I had also fixed up the concrete of the front steps, all the drywall, and a leak in the basement soil pipe which they now brought up after being a month and a half behind and hadn't mentioned before, and which also required multiple visits by different plumbers.

It could also cost more if there are multiple layers of shingles underneath.  

Depending o how badly the carpets/padding are soiled you may need to remove the carpets and padding and check the sub floor.

I called up DEQ and they still had liens on the property from contaminated soil samples.

You see, the watermelon paint underneath was not actually paint, it was calcimine, a mix of chalk dust and glue that hasn't been used to quickly cover sooty interior areas in the USA since the 19th century, but make it through the 20th in Greece for cheap applications by con artists.

Depends on the type of foundation, soil, and how much differential settlement is in it within given time frame.  

The phone system requires someone to crank a dial to generate enough current to ring a bell at a central phone office.There is no sewer or wastewater charge in the monthly utility bill because there is an outhouse in the back yard with its own decomposition pit underneath. 

Since lead may be present in paint, old pipes, or in the soil outside and tracked indoors.

In other words, the trim may still be there underneath but no kid will ever be able to chew on it.Put quarter round over all the tops of your baseboard, This does not remove lead, but it greatly hinders a child from chewing on it.If you have carpets in the apartment, get rid of them.